Chapter 83: The Invincible Battleship

The sinking of the "Indefatigable" meant that Beatty had lost his sole advantage.

At this point, Beatty's best option would have been to retreat and avoid further losses. Indeed, Beatty considered withdrawing, but an event that immediately followed changed his mind and convinced him to continue fighting for ultimate victory.

At 7:23, a massive explosion erupted aboard the "Moltke" as well.

The explosion occurred at the bow, where an armor-piercing shell fired from the "Queen Mary" struck the "Moltke's" A turret and detonated inside. Although the Imperial Navy had more stringent operational protocols—such as strictly forbidding the opening of fire and explosion doors between turrets and magazines during combat—gun crews would inevitably store some propellant charges inside the turret in the heat of battle. This shell not only destroyed the turret but blew it completely off the ship. The violent blast also affected the B turret behind it, temporarily rendering it inoperable.

In other words, the "Moltke" lost two-thirds of its main battery firepower.

During the explosion, Rader and dozens of other officers and men on the bridge were injured and unable to command the fleet for the moment.

In fact, the "Moltke" was not in danger of sinking at the time; she could still fight with her aft turret and secondary guns. The executive officer on the aft bridge immediately took over command.

But in Beatty's eyes, the "Moltke" had been crippled, perhaps even on the verge of sinking.

Naturally, Beatty was unwilling to leave empty-handed. After the loss of the "Indefatigable," he needed some achievement to account for to Jellicoe.

Thus, Beatty did not order a retreat.

The problem, however, was that Beatty overlooked a crucial factor: after the "Indefatigable" was sunk, the "Derfflinger" could have shifted her fire to the "Queen Mary," and the "Moltke" was still fighting. The "Queen Mary" was already badly damaged; she would struggle to prevail even against the "Moltke" alone, much less under the combined fire of two battlecruisers.

Curiously, at this critical moment, the "Derfflinger" did not turn her guns on the "Queen Mary" but instead moved to relieve the "Von der Tann," which was being beset by the "Inflexible" and "Indomitable," directing her fire onto the "Inflexible."

In truth, the captain of the "Derfflinger" made no mistake. Before the engagement, Rader had given clear orders that after defeating the "Indefatigable," the "Derfflinger" was to prioritize attacking the enemy ships in the rear. Only if the "Moltke" was completely disabled or sunk should she focus first on the "Queen Mary."

At that moment, the "Moltke" was neither sunk nor out of action.

Given the situation, the "Derfflinger" not firing on the "Queen Mary" was perhaps a blessing for Beatty, as it offered him a glimmer of hope.

Yet what happened next again exceeded the expectations of both fleet commanders.

At 7:32, another massive explosion ripped through the "Moltke," this time at the stern, knocking out her last main turret.

To Beatty, victory now seemed within his grasp.

As the smoke cleared, not only were all the "Moltke's" main guns silenced, with only a few secondary guns firing, but her hull had begun to list to port.

At that point, the "Moltke" had taken on over 2,500 tons of water, nearing the danger mark.

Beatty knew full well that regardless of whether the "Moltke" continued fighting, he stood a good chance of winning. If the "Moltke" pressed on, she would likely be sunk by the "Queen Mary." If she withdrew, the "Derfflinger" would be left isolated.

Moreover, the "Von der Tann," under fire from two British ships, had been heavily damaged and was all but out of action.

Beatty had every reason to believe that Rader would choose to retreat. In that case, he could concentrate the firepower of three ships on the "Derfflinger." Even if the "Derfflinger" escaped relatively unscathed, the trailing "Von der Tann" was doomed.

What Beatty did not anticipate was that Rader chose not to retreat.

Before the second explosion, Rader had returned to his command post and resumed command. His first order was for the entire fleet to hold out to the last.

This was more than just a rallying cry; it was a signal to the officers and men that reinforcements were imminent.

In half an hour, the "Prinzregent Luitpold" and four other capital ships would arrive. Once these five ships joined the fight, Beatty's battlecruiser squadron would be wiped out.

Rader had thought things through with clarity.

If he could destroy Beatty's four battlecruisers—even at the cost of losing the "Moltke" and the "Von der Tann"—he would still emerge the ultimate victor.

With the "Moltke" still firing her secondary guns and not retreating, Beatty's position became precarious.

At 7:41, Rader's persistence bore fruit.

Having already distinguished herself by sinking the "Indefatigable" with a single armor-piercing shell, the "Derfflinger" pressed her advantage, crippling the "Inflexible" with just twelve salvos. The fatal shell struck midships on the starboard side, penetrating the armor belt and exploding in the No. 2 boiler room. The worst damage came not from the shell itself, but from the high-pressure steam that vented from the boilers.

With half her power lost, the "Inflexible" was forced to withdraw.

In truth, by the time she disengaged, the "Inflexible" was barely combat-capable, with only her portside main turret able to fire.

But withdrawal was not so easily accomplished.

As she broke formation, the "Inflexible" was struck again by a salvo from the "Derfflinger," three of whose armor-piercing shells found their mark—one of them hitting the steering compartment.

The result: before she could complete her turn, her steering gear failed completely.

For a warship in the midst of a turn, this was fatal, as it meant the "Inflexible" could neither escape nor avoid blocking the "Indomitable" behind her.

In the end, the "Inflexible" could not evade destruction.

After Beatty gave the retreat order, the captain of the "Inflexible" ordered the ship scuttled and, with over 800 crew, boarded lifeboats to surrender to the Germans.

At the time, the greatest issue lay in the impact on the "Indomitable."

Blocked by the "Inflexible," the "Indomitable" could not keep pace with the "Queen Mary" and was forced to turn away at 7:45.

This was, by all accounts, a wise decision.

Although the "Von der Tann," after taking over a dozen heavy armor-piercing shells and scores of medium-caliber hits, was mostly out of action, she had nonetheless given the "Indomitable" a bitter fight, scoring at least three 300mm armor-piercing hits.

More importantly, at this stage the "Derfflinger" was still undamaged.

Had the "Indomitable" not withdrawn but remained on the battlefield, she would surely have become the "Derfflinger's" next target.

Having witnessed the "Derfflinger's" remarkable prowess, any British sailor would be left shaken.

The "Indomitable's" withdrawal was, in effect, a decision made for Beatty.

By now, only the "Derfflinger" remained fully operational in the German fleet, but Beatty was left with just the "Queen Mary." Worse still, while crippling the "Moltke," the "Queen Mary" had lost three-quarters of her main guns, with only the turret behind the bridge still functional, whereas the "Derfflinger" retained her full main battery.

If Beatty retained any sense, he would choose to withdraw.

At this point, another critical factor prompted Beatty's decision to retreat: the arrival of the "Prinzregent Luitpold" and four other capital ships.

Seeing the black smoke on the northeastern horizon, Beatty realized that Rader had held something in reserve.

Though he did not quite understand why Rader had kept several capital ships back—initially suspecting they were the main body of the High Seas Fleet—it was clear he could not win this battle and had to rejoin Jellicoe at once.

Fortunately, at this moment, the "Moltke" also withdrew.

Strictly speaking, it was not a retreat but rather a rendezvous with the arriving support fleet.

Meanwhile, the "Derfflinger" was pursuing the withdrawing "Indomitable" and had not turned her guns on the "Queen Mary" for the moment.

At 7:54, Beatty boarded a light cruiser that had come to pick him up.

Ten minutes later, Beatty sent a telegram to Jellicoe, who was still more than forty nautical miles away.

By then, the "Queen Mary" was also turning away.

Seeing the British fleet retreat, Rader promptly sent out a telegram, though he did not immediately order a pursuit, as the five supporting capital ships were still over ten kilometers away.

Only at this point did Jellicoe learn that Beatty had fought a bitter battle and suffered grievous losses.

Although Beatty's message claimed he had heavily damaged the German ships "Moltke" and "Von der Tann," Jellicoe could not possibly see this as a victory, for the Royal Navy had lost the "Indefatigable," the "Queen Mary" and "Indomitable" were badly damaged, and the "Inflexible" had very likely been sunk.

Such an outcome was unacceptable to both Beatty and Jellicoe.

Jellicoe had but one option: to lead the main fleet in pursuit, crushing Rader’s battlecruiser squadron like a steamroller.

Though Jellicoe knew that Rader was unlikely to accept a decisive engagement—and that, if he did, it would mean Hipper with the main fleet was about to arrive—he had no other choice, for if he did not pursue, he would have to shoulder the blame for a failed action.

Clearly, Jellicoe had to consider his own future.

Only by going on the offensive could he avoid responsibility, shifting the burden onto Beatty.

At this moment, Feng Chengqian faced the same dilemma.