At a quarter to two the _Invincible_ was being straddled--the _Scharnhorst's_ shells, that is to say, were exploding on both sides of her--and Admiral {71} Sturdee, consistently with his plan of action, drew away a little to avoid undue risks. The _Scharnhorst_ had by this time been hit on several occasions, but had not been disabled, though she broke off the action; and, at ten minutes past two, the fight became a chase again, the _Invincible_ reopening fire at a quarter to three. For eight minutes, again out-ranging them, the _Invincible_ and _Inflexible_ hammered the two German cruisers, forcing them round to port once more to reply as best they could. The heavier British guns had now begun definitely to tell, however, and the _Scharnhorst_ was already on fire forward. "We hit again and again," wrote Midshipman John Esmonde in a letter to his father after the action. "First our left gun sent her big crane spinning over the side. Then our right gun blew her funnel to atoms, and then another shot from the left gun sent her bridge and part of the forecastle sky-high. We were not escaping free, however. Shots were hitting us repeatedly, and the spray from the splashes of their shells was hiding the _Scharnhorst_ from us.... Down came the range--11,000, 10,000, 9,000, to 8,800. We were hitting the _Scharnhorst_ very nearly every time. One beauty from our right gun got one of her turrets fair and square and sent it whistling over the side. Suddenly our right gun misfired--we had got a jamb and one gun was out of action. The breech had caught against one of the cages and would neither open nor shut. We opened up the trap hatch, and I jumped out, and down the ladder with two men to try and find a crowbar. The 12-inch guns were firing all round us, and our left gun was {72} doing work for two now that the right was jambed. The German shells were whistling unpleasantly close and there were splinters flying all over the place. The _Scharnhorst_ was firing heavily, but I could see she was in a bad way. She was down by the bows and badly on fire amidships. I got the crowbar and brought it in, but they wanted a hacksaw as well, so I jumped out again, and just as I was coming back I saw the _Scharnhorst's_ ensign dip (never knew whether it came down or not, because just then one of the lyddite shells hit her and there was a dense cloud of smoke all over her).[1] When it cleared she was on her side, and her propellers were lashing the water round into foam. Then she capsized altogether, going to the bottom." [1] As a matter of fact, the _Scharnhorst's_ ensign was not lowered, but, as Admiral Sturdee afterward remarked, "Von Spee met his fate like a brave Admiral, though our foe."