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 full of submarines, but by singular good fortune the British ships passed through them without mishap.

Meantime, as the great vessels raced southward, the lighter craft were fighting a battle of their own. Eight destroyers of the 13th Flotilla—Nestor, Nomad, Nicator, Narborough, Pelican, Petard, Obdurate and Nerissa, together with Moorsom and Morris, of the 10th, and Turbulent and Termagant, of the 9th, moved out at 4.15 for a torpedo attack, at the same time as the enemy destroyers came forward for the same purpose. The British Flotilla at once came into action at close quarters with 15 destroyers and a light cruiser of the enemy, and beat them back with the loss of two destroyers. This combat had made some of them drop astern, so a full torpedo attack was impossible. Nestor, Nomad and Nicator, under Commander the Honourable E. B. S. Bingham, fired two torpedoes at the German battle cruisers and were sorely battered themselves by the German secondary armament. They clung to their task till the turning movement came which we shall presently record, and Rh