But the Germans had not been idle. Outranged by the British as they were, they had opened with their great guns the moment the British had come within range. One shell raked the forward deck of the _Tiger_, and carried away a part of the turret, killing several men. A second struck the _Lion_, wounding several officers and a number of sailors, though none was killed on the second ship. Now, with victory almost in their hands, the British fleet, at a signal from the flagship, gave up the chase and fell back. Only the _Bluecher_ had been sunk, though two of the enemy's remaining three cruisers were in flames and the third had been badly damaged. A cry of dismay went up from the British when the order to slow down was given. For the moment the men were at a loss to account for this action, and the officers of the various ships themselves were, for the moment, disappointed. But Admiral Beatty had acted wisely. Ten minutes' further steaming and the Germans had entered the protection of the mine field, where it would have been death for the British to have followed without a map of the mined area. Admiral Beatty's action in calling off his fleet was given at the right moment, for had the British followed the chase would have ended disastrously. When the German cruiser _Bluecher_ had disappeared beneath the waves, the crew of one of the British cruisers had manned the boats and was endeavoring to save the lives of the Germans who had leaped into the water. Almost two hundred of them had been picked up. Suddenly, right in the spot where the British sailors were engaged in the work of rescue, a torpedo flashed by with a sharp hiss. Had it struck one of the boats, all near must have been killed. A second followed closely after the first, and the British were forced to give up the work of rescue, for to have remained in the spot would have been to invite certain death. Thus, by firing at British sailors engaged in the task of saving surviving German sailors, a German submarine had been the means of losing several score of German lives. Meanwhile what of the British submarine D-16, which, before the battle commenced, was bearing Frank and Jack swiftly toward the German fleet? Beneath the water, Lord Hastings had no way of determining what was going on above. The D-16 had submerged until her periscope was of no value, but Lord Hastings had deemed this advisable, because, had the periscope been allowed to protrude above water, it might have been carried away by a German shell. Now the D-16, besides being able to remain under water indefinitely, had as before stated an added superiority over other under-the-sea-fighters, for she was able, when pushed to the limit, to make a speed of thirty knots--a speed much greater even than that of any of the cruisers above her. Therefore, when the British fleet came within range of the enemy, the D-16 was far in advance of her fellows, under the water.