What in fact happened was this. Beatty, as we have seen, had led due east at six o’clock, closing the enemy from 14,000 yards to 12,000 yards, and was overhauling the head of his line rapidly. At 6:20 Hood, in _Invincible_, with _Inflexible_ and _Indomitable_, was seen ahead returning from a fruitless search for the Germans, which he had made to the southwest an hour before. Hood was one of Beatty’s admirals with the Battle-Cruiser Fleet temporarily attached to the Grand Fleet. When, therefore, his old Commander-in-Chief ordered him to take station ahead, he had not the slightest difficulty in divining his leader’s intentions. It was characteristic of this force that the rear-admirals and commodores in command of the unit squadrons acted without orders throughout the day. Hood formed before the _Lion_ and led down straight on the German line. By 6:25 he had closed the range to 8,000 yards and had _Lützow_, Von Hipper’s flagship, under so hot a fire that she was disabled and abandoned almost immediately. By an unfortunate chance his own flagship, _Invincible_, was destroyed by the first and almost the only shell that hit her, the Rear-Admiral and nearly all his gallant companions being sent to instant death. But their work was done and the van of the German fleet was crumpled up. [E] For diagrams illustrating this chapter, see end of book. Scheer by this time had had his fleet on an easterly course for five and thirty minutes, waiting for the opportunity to turn a right angle or more, so as to retreat under the cover of his torpedo attacks. Up to this time the main body of his fleet had only been under fire for a brief interval, during which the rear division of the Grand Fleet had been in action. Scheer had, no doubt, watched the deployment of the Grand Fleet and had realized that the method chosen had not only given him already a quarter-of-an-hour’s respite, but had supplied him with that opportunity for counter-attack and the evasion it might make possible, which he had been looking for. The battle cruisers were well away to the east. The van and centre of the Grand Fleet, though well on his bows, were only just beginning to open fire.