Forward and to the right of the Essex there sounded a terrific explosion, followed by a blinding glare.  The Baden, one of the largest of the German warships, sprang into a mighty sheet of flame.  A shell from the Lion had penetrated the engine room and exploded her boilers.  Came wild cries from aboard the vessel and escaping steam and boiling water poured on the crew and scalded them.

With the searchlights of the British ships playing on her, the Baden reared high out of the water, and as men jumped into the sea for safety, she settled by the head, and sank.

This left only four of the enemy to continue the struggle and opposed to these the British offered eight unwounded vessels.  Admiral Krauss gazed in every direction, seeking a possible avenue of escape.  And at last he believed he saw it.

To the east—­back in the direction from which he had come—­the space between the British battleships Peerless and Falcon seemed to offer a chance.  The German admiral calculated rapidly.  To the eye it appeared that the German ships could pass through that opening before the British could close in.

The wireless aboard the German flagship sputtered excitedly.  Instantly the four remaining German ships turned and dashed after the flagship, which was showing the way.

Instantly the commander of every British ship realized the purpose of the enemy.  Even the distant Falcon and Peerless seemed to know what was expected of them.  Their speed increased and they dashed forward in an effort to intercept the enemy.

It was nip and tuck.  The Lion was the first to dash in pursuit, followed by the Tiger and the White Hawk.  The Brewster and Southampton, closely followed by the more or less crippled Essex, brought up the rear, each doing its utmost to pass the other in order to get another chance at the enemy.

Slowly the Lion, the Tiger and the White Hawk gained on the enemy; and it became apparent now that the Germans would be unable to get through the space between the Peerless and Falcon without a fight.

Aboard the Bismarck, the German admiral gritted his teeth.

“It will have to be fight now,” he muttered, “and the odds are all against me.”

The Falcon and the Peerless, from either side and forward of the Germans, now opened with their big guns almost simultaneously.  Every available gun aboard the German vessels replied.  From astern, the guns of the Lion were pounding the sterns of the fleeing enemy battleships.  The Brewster and the Southampton, together with the Tiger and the White Hawk, also were hurling shells after the Germans, although with little effect, for they were trailing too far behind.

Jack urged the Essex forward in the wake of the others.  He was far behind and was rapidly being outdistanced by the larger ships, but he determined to see the thing through if possible.

The last German ship in line, struck by a shell from the pursuing Lion, staggered and fell to one side.  The Lion darted on, pouring a broadside into the crippled enemy as she passed, then dashed after the vessels ahead.