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 Southampton and the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron continued forward to observe, and did not turn till within 13,000 yards of von Scheer's battle ships and under their fire. At 5 o'clock Beatty's battle cruisers were steering north—Fearless and the 1st Destroyer Flotilla leading; the 1st and 3rd Light Cruiser Squadrons on his starboard bow; and the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron on his port quarter. Behind him came Evan-Thomas, attended by Champion and the destroyers of the 13th Flotilla.

It is not difficult to guess what was in the mind of von Scheer and von Hipper. They had had the good fortune to destroy two of Beatty's battle cruisers, and now that their whole fleet was together they hoped to destroy more. It seems clear that the weather conditions that afternoon made Zeppelins useless, and, accordingly, they knew nothing of Jellicoe's presence in the North. They believed they had caught Beatty cruising on his own account, and that the gods had delivered him into their Rh