The _Duke’s_ great turrets boldly spoke, Belched shell and fire, fume and smoke. Concussion tore the night around. The shells went screaming through the sound And landed close aboard the Hun, A “straddle” salvo number one. The _Duke_ corrected plot and range And there began a fierce exchange Of shell and suffering. _Scharnhorst_ blazed Where blasts and flame her structures razed. She turned to east in panicked fright And sought the dark, descending night. The _Duke_ sped after, sending shell, Fired havoc, roaring hell Raining down upon the fleeing Battered, bruised and barely seeing Nazi supership which sped Ever more and more ahead. At last the _Duke_ had lost the range. Her guns were silenced, but a strange New battle lit the horizon’s edge And smote the _Scharnhorst_ like a sledge. She reared and tossed and bellowed toward _Saumarez_, _Savage_, _Scorpion_, _Stord_. She did not flee as fast, for they, More swiftly speeding on their way, O’ertook her and on either bow Engaged the bleeding _Scharnhorst_ now. Her voice was wild, her aim was bad; She fought with all the guns she had. At forty knots the destroyers came. Ten thousand yards, they took their aim; Six thousand yards, without a change Of course or speed they closed the range. Two thousand yards, they launched their dread Torpedoes, and away they sped. The _Scharnhorst_ snorted, scored a hit. _Saumarez_ felt the blast of it. But then the launched torpedoes struck, And _Scharnhorst’s_ inner heart was stuck. Her guns began a wild, red fire, She’d lost her speed, could not retire. By now the _Duke of York_ had closed, And with another force composed Of _Sheffield_, _Norfolk_, and _Belfast_, _Jamaica_, and come up at last, Four escorts from the convoy screen, Began a new approach routine. The _Scharnhorst_ shuddered, shell on shell From eight destroyers upon her fell. From four crack cruisers she sustained The heavy, horrid fire they trained. Each salvo from the _Duke of York_ Left her unsteady as a cork. Around and round the battle raged, On every side she was engaged By greater force and stronger will, A broken thing of beauty still; And then the ships received command To stand well clear on every hand. The battle paused. The night returned, And in that dark the _Scharnhorst_ burned. The swift and final act began. _Jamaica_ left the cruiser van And headed toward the trembling pile Where life and metal burned the while. A neat destroyer trained her lights Upon the target and the sights Aboard _Jamaica_, set to kill, Could pledge the beast her final thrill. _Jamaica_ swung. Torpedoes leapt, Their course and their appointment kept.