The _Leipzig_ now directed her fire on to the _Cornwall_. At the outset we were astounded to find that her projectiles were falling over us at this distance, but she soon found this out, and most of her splashes were well short for some minutes. As the range diminished the firing became more accurate, and it was possible to judge of its effect. It was not till 4.22 that the _Cornwall_ scored her first visible hit, which carried away the enemy's fore-topmast, killing the gunnery lieutenant and disabling the fire control. The enemy thereupon altered course away slightly to starboard, at which we made a bigger turn in the same direction, so as to cut him off, as well as to cross his course the more rapidly in the event of his dropping mines overboard. This manœuvre brought the range down to 8,275 yards at 4.56, when he scored some hits. Captain Ellerton then turned away to starboard to give the enemy a broadside, at the same time opening the range, which completely upset the accuracy of the _Leipzig's_ fire. The _Glasgow_ took up her self-appointed station on the port quarter of the _Cornwall_ (_see_ Plan, p. 112), and the action developed into a running fight between our two ships and the _Leipzig_, who concentrated her fire on the _Cornwall_, which, however, had superior armament: _Name_ _Tonnage_ _Armament_ _Speed_ _Completion_ _Cornwall_ 9,800 14--6" 23.68 1904 _Glasgow_ 4,800 2--6" 10--4" 25.8 1900 _Leipzig_ 3,200 10--4.1" 23.5 1906 From "Brassey's Naval Annual." Mist and a light drizzling rain now set in, so we broke into independent firing on account of the difficulty of spotting the fall of shot. The range opened to 9,800 yards, and still we were being hit, which clearly showed the efficiency of the German 4.1-inch gun. Our course soon took us out of range, so we again turned towards the enemy, ceasing fire from 5.12 to 5.29 P.M. This was analogous to the interval that occurred in the battle-cruisers' action, and is significant; both took place on the same day, and both were due to the same cause--namely, the idea of making full use of the heavier armament in our ships, and thus eliminating the risk of incurring unnecessary casualties. Shortly after 5.30 P.M. the _Cornwall_ was hit no fewer than nine times in as many minutes at a range of over 9,000 yards, so course was again altered to starboard, a broadside being fired as the ship turned. We continued these tactics, closing in and firing the foremost group of guns and then turning out again as soon as we had got in too close, at the same time getting in broadside fire, by which we managed to score a number of hits with common shell.