Settling at once to a stern chase, the British ships increased speed to 28.5 knots; while the Germans, handicapped by the slower _Bluecher_, were held down to 25. At 8.52 the _Lion_ was within 20,000 yards of the _Bluecher_, and, after deliberate ranging shots, scored her first hit at 9.09. As the range further decreased, the _Tiger_ opened on the rear ship, and the _Lion_ shifted to the third in line at 18,000 yards. The enemy returned the fire at 9.14. Thus the action continued, both squadrons in lines of bearing, and Beatty's ships engaged as a rule with their opposites in the enemy order. [Illustration: DOGGER BANK ACTION, JAN. 24, 1915] At 9.45 the German armored cruiser had suffered severely, and ships ahead also showed the effects of the heavier enemy fire. Under cover of a thick smoke screen from destroyers on their starboard bow, and a subsequent destroyer attack, the Germans now shifted course away from the enemy and the rear ships hauled out on the port quarter of their leader to increase the range. The British cruisers, according to Admiral Beatty's report, "were ordered to form a line of bearing N.N.W., and proceed at their utmost speed." An hour later the _Bluecher_ staggered away to northward. Badly crippled, she was assigned by Beatty to the _Indomitable_, and was sunk at 12.37. At 10.54 submarines were reported on the British starboard bows. Just after 11 the flagship _Lion_, having received two hits under water which burst a feed tank and thus put the port engine out of commission, turned northward out of the line. Though the injury was spoken of as the result of a "chance shot," the _Lion_ had been hit 15 times. About an hour later Admiral Beatty hoisted his flag in the _Princess Royal_, but during the remainder of the battle Rear Admiral Moore in the _Tiger_ had command. Judging from the fact that the _Tiger_ was hit only 8 times in the entire action and the _Princess Royal_ and the _New Zealand_ not at all, there seems to have been little effort at this time to press the attack. The British lost touch at 11.50, and turned back at noon. In the lively discussion aroused by the battle, the question was raised why the _Bluecher_ was included in the German line. Any encounter that developed on such an excursion was almost certain to be with superior forces, against which the armored cruiser would be of slight value. In a retreat, the "lame duck" would slow down the whole squadron, or else must be left behind.