Chapter 123: A Duel Between the Old and the New

At 4:27, Hamilton led the light force in a turn to the west, with Raeder following suit immediately.

Two minutes later, the artillery duel commenced.

Hamilton’s line was headed by the battlecruiser *Tiger*, which had officially entered service only a month prior, followed by *Australia* and *New Zealand*. Because he was outnumbered by two battlecruisers, Hamilton also integrated the *Arethusa* and the *Galatea* into the battle line.

On Raeder’s side, the *Kaiserin Augusta* led the formation, followed in order by *Prinz Karl*, *Kronprinz Wilhelm*, *Kaiser Wilhelm der Große*, and *Kronprinz*. Holding a significant advantage in the number of capital ships, Raeder kept his light cruisers at the rear.

While the battle lines were set, the tactical approach differed.

Hamilton had no choice but to order each ship to engage its counterpart individually. Raeder, however, possessed the luxury of choice; with more capital ships at his disposal, he had the capability to concentrate his force to crush the enemy flagship, thereby throwing the opposing line into disarray.

In reality, both men shared the same objective: to destroy the other’s flagship first.

Hamilton relied solely on the eight 343mm heavy guns of the *Tiger*. At the time, these were the largest caliber naval guns mounted on a battlecruiser. More importantly, the *Tiger* was a brand-new vessel, whereas his opponent, the *Kaiserin Augusta*, was twenty years old. In Hamilton’s view, a one-on-one engagement with the *Kaiserin Augusta* offered a reasonable chance of success. It was for this very reason that Hamilton had integrated the two light cruisers—vessels that could neither withstand heavy fire nor pose a significant threat to enemy capital ships—into his battle line. Simply put, Hamilton hoped to use the uniform line to disperse the enemy’s fire and trick Raeder into making a tactical error.

Frustratingly, Raeder made no such mistake.

Having accurately determined that his opponent possessed only three capital ships, Raeder executed a specific deployment: the *Kaiserin Augusta* and *Prinz Karl* concentrated their fire on the *Tiger*; the *Kronprinz Wilhelm* and *Kaiser Wilhelm der Große* engaged the *Australia* and *New Zealand* respectively; and the *Kronprinz* took on the two light cruisers. Raeder’s intent was clear: concentrate firepower to eliminate the enemy flagship.

Less than five minutes into the battle, Hamilton felt the sting of his predicament.

Although light cruisers possess superior maneuverability compared to battlecruisers, they are far more fragile and easier to destroy.

At 4:32, the *Arethusa* was hit first. A 150mm armor-piercing shell fired by the *Kronprinz* from a range of 17,000 meters struck the *Arethusa*’s bridge, killing over a dozen officers and men, including the captain. The ship immediately turned to break formation.

While this shell did not sink the *Arethusa*, it disrupted Hamilton’s battle line. Of course, whether the *Arethusa* withdrew or not was of little consequence; the true crisis lay at the head of the column.

Although the *Tiger* was a brand-new warship, it held no advantage in gun count or weight of broadside against two battlecruisers. Fortunately, the *Tiger* was not fighting alone.

As it endured the bombardment from the *Kaiserin Augusta* and the *Prinz Karl*, the *Tiger*’s own guns posed a threat to the *Kaiserin Augusta*. More importantly, the *Australia*, following close behind, did not engage the *Kronprinz Wilhelm* which was firing upon it. Instead, following Hamilton’s plan, it pointed its guns at the *Prinz Karl*, effectively suppressing the German ship’s fire. It is fair to say that had the *Australia*’s fire not disrupted the *Prinz Karl*, Hamilton’s flagship would have suffered dearly within those first five minutes.

Naturally, the *Australia* was also covered by the *New Zealand*. The reason was simple: while the *Australia* engaged the *Prinz Karl*, the *New Zealand* was firing on the *Kronprinz Wilhelm*, creating significant interference for the German ship’s gunnery.

The problem was, who would cover the *New Zealand*?

Even if the *Arethusa* had not left the line, its three 152mm guns and six 102mm guns could not have threatened the *Kaiser Wilhelm der Große* at a range of 17,000 meters, nor could they have forced the German ship to take evasive action. At this combat range, even if the *Kaiser Wilhelm der Große* were struck by 152mm armor-piercing shells, it would sustain no major damage. Conversely, the *Arethusa*’s armor could not withstand 150mm shells.

Following the withdrawal of the *Arethusa*, the *New Zealand*’s situation became increasingly dire.

At 4:34, a 300mm armor-piercing shell pierced the *New Zealand*’s main funnel; while it did not explode, it left two massive holes. Had that shell detonated inside the funnel, the *New Zealand*’s top speed would have been reduced by at least two knots.

Just one minute later, another armor-piercing shell from the *Kaiser Wilhelm der Große* struck the *New Zealand*. This time, the British ship’s luck ran out. The shell, fitted with a delayed-action fuse, did not explode immediately after piercing the ship’s main armor. It only detonated two minutes later when damage control crews were attempting to dispose of the "dud." In hindsight, it is highly likely that the crew had accidentally triggered the shell’s fuse.

The sudden explosion caused observers on the *Kaiser Wilhelm der Große* to misjudge the situation, believing they had scored another direct hit on the *New Zealand*. Regardless, the result was the same.

The explosion, occurring on the port side of the *New Zealand* forward of the main turret, not only killed a dozen damage control personnel attempting to defuse the shell but also tore a massive hole in the hull, causing flooding in over a dozen nearby compartments and threatening the ammunition hoist for the main turret. In an instant, the *New Zealand* lost a third of its broadside firepower.

Yet, the *New Zealand* did not withdraw from the battle.

Upon seeing the *New Zealand* struck, Hamilton adjusted his line, ordering the light cruiser *Galatea* to fill the gap. At 4:40, Hamilton further ordered the *Royalist* and the *Intrepid* to lead a torpedo boat attack. Clearly, Hamilton intended to break Raeder’s line. Frustratingly, Raeder had long been prepared; the six light cruisers he had kept in the rear were immediately deployed to take on the role of anti-torpedo defense.

Interestingly, Hamilton had not given up even at this point. According to the Grand Fleet’s combat logs, Hamilton likely misjudged the situation, believing he had landed several hits on the *Kaiserin Augusta*. In reality, the *Kaiserin Augusta* was not hit until 4:47, and even then, it was only by a 152mm shell. Perhaps the observers on the *Tiger* had mistaken near-misses falling near the *Kaiserin Augusta* for direct hits.

In truth, the errors made by the *Tiger*’s observers were hardly surprising. During this engagement, the *Tiger*’s accuracy ranked last among the eight battlecruisers present. The primary reason was the poor quality of the crew, who had not yet fully mastered the techniques of naval gunnery. Of the more than 1,100 men aboard the *Tiger*, fewer than 100 had been in service for more than two years; the rest were recruits enlisted within the past two years, some of whom had not even completed basic training.

Conversely, the crews of the German ships were seasoned veterans. If anything, the five German ships were simply having a run of bad luck. In the first ten minutes, aside from the *Kaiser Wilhelm der Große*, both the *Kaiserin Augusta* and the *Kronprinz Wilhelm* had bracketed their targets but failed to secure a single direct hit, resulting only in near-misses. Of the dozen near-misses fired by the *Kaiserin Augusta*, two landed less than 100 meters from the *Tiger*. For a ship over 200 meters long, a deviation of less than 100 meters is a matter of pure chance.

At 4:46, the *Kaiserin Augusta* finally secured its first success. According to observations from the *Kaiserin Augusta*, a 300mm armor-piercing shell struck the *Tiger*’s rear turret, landing on the horizontal deck to the right of the turret, with the explosion occurring near the barbette. While it failed to destroy the turret or cause critical damage to the hull, this 500-kilogram shell, packed with over ten kilograms of high explosives, cost the *Tiger* a quarter of its main battery firepower.

From this point on, Raeder’s advantage in ship numbers began to manifest.

At 4:51, Hamilton suffered his most grievous loss. A 300mm armor-piercing shell from the *Kronprinz Wilhelm* struck the *Australia*’s forward turret, piercing the frontal armor and detonating inside. Crucially, the ammunition hoist was open at the time of the impact. Had the gunnery officer not immediately ordered the flooding of the forward main magazine, the *Australia* would surely have suffered the same fate as the *Indefatigable* at the Battle of Jutland, sinking in a massive magazine explosion. Though it did not sink, the *Australia* took on over 500 tons of water at the bow within five minutes.

Clearly, the warship had lost its ability to continue the fight.

Before 5:00, Hamilton ordered the *Australia* to retreat. By this time, the *New Zealand* had lost its second turret, with only two forward main guns still firing. Although the *Tiger* was in slightly better condition—having lost only one turret and still fighting with six guns—its accuracy was staggeringly low. Of nearly 200 rounds fired, not a single one had scored a direct hit, nor had there been many near-misses; it had posed no threat to the German ships at all.

Even though Hamilton was unwilling to admit defeat, he had to acknowledge that the time for retreat had come.