the two german destroyers crossed the t of the british flotilla and were able to fire full broadsides at a range of only . they first engaged the british flagship, , and badly damaged her. both of her forward guns were knocked out and the forward superstructure was set afire. "hardy" was forced to beach herself lest she sink, and the german ships switched their fire to , the next ship in line. their fire was relatively ineffective and both sides fired torpedoes without scoring any hits. "havock" pulled out and dropped to the rear to fight off any pursuit by the ships of the 4th flotilla. this placed in the lead and she was quickly set on fire by the german ships. "thiele" probably also hit her with a torpedo and she was rammed from behind by when the latter ship lost steering control. "hotspur" was able to disengage, but "hunter" capsized shortly afterward. the three remaining british ships were able to escape from the germans under the cover of a smoke screen. "von arnim" had been hit by five british shells, which had knocked out one boiler. this was repaired by the morning of 13 april and she received six torpedoes from the badly damaged destroyers.