By eleven o’clock there were fires raging on both the Seydlitz and the Derfftinger, and Admiral Hipper decided to try to save his larger ships by sacrificing the destroyers that accompanied them.  Consequently the German destroyers put their bows right toward the large British ships and charged, but the fire which they drew was too much for them and they gave up this maneuver.

The British destroyer Meteor, which had been maintaining a perilous position between the battleships, then attempted to torpedo the Bluecher, which had fallen far to the rearward to be abandoned by the rest of the German fleet.  Badly damaged as the Bluecher was, the crew of one of her guns managed to get in some final shots, one of them nearly ending the career of the British destroyer.  The Arethusa had also come up and prepared to launch a torpedo.  Cruiser and destroyer torpedoed her at about the same moment, and later, while within 200 yards of the sinking German ship the Arethusa sent another torpedo at her.  She now began to list, although not greatly damaged, on her port side till her keel showed.  Her crew showed remarkable bravery.

The men lined up as though at a review and began to sing the German national airs, intending to go to their deaths in that formation.  But an officer on the Arethusa shouted to them through a megaphone to jump while they could to save their lives.  This had a psychological effect, and as the starboard side of her hull slowly came up her men were seen scrambling on it from behind her taff rail and creeping down toward her keel.  Some of them almost walked into the water while she was in that position.  Her guns were pointing toward the sky, one of them slowly revolving.  Finally, when she was completely upside down she went under.  Many of her crew were picked up by British small boats, and her captain, who was one of them, was taken to England, where he died later from the results of this experience and was buried with full naval honors.

The German destroyers had meanwhile come between their own cruisers and those of the enemy and emitted volumes of heavy smoke, which they hoped would form an effective screen between the former and the gunners on the latter.  Admiral Hipper then ordered all of his ships to turn northward, in the hope of getting away behind this screen, but the British admiral anticipated this maneuver and changed the course of his ships so that he again had the German ships in view after both fleets had driven through the smoke.

The Lion of the British fleet was chosen as the target for the German ships, and by keeping a concentrated fire upon her were able to do considerable damage.  One shell penetrated the bow of the Lion as it was partly lifted out of the water on account of the great speed she was making; this shot hit her water tank and made it impossible for her to use her port engine from that time on.  She slowed down.  When she fell out of the line it was necessary for Admiral Beatty to leave her, and he transferred his flag to the destroyer Attack.  But all of this took time and it was quite long before he was able to rejoin his leading ships.  By twenty minutes past twelve he had got aboard the Princess Royal.