The English Admiral adhered so strictly to his instructions that, with an incomprehensible carelessness, he neglected to search the East Schelde with his second squadron, or even with his scouts.
The entry of the German ships which had been sent back from the open into the West Schelde, evidently appeared to Sir Percy Domvile a sufficient confirmation of the assumption that the whole German fleet was in this arm of the river's mouth, for the clouds of smoke which they emitted rendered an accurate computation of their strength impossible.
Thus, the Prince-Admiral's squadron was enabled to approach the enemy so far unobserved that it would be able to take the British fleet in the flank, when it had reached the west point of Walcheren.
At the signal: "Full steam ahead!" the German ships in the formation agreed steamed against the surprised English, and opened fire from their bow-guns.Naturally, the English Admiral at once ordered the first squadron to take up its position behind the second, turned left with both, and went to meet the enemy in double line.
This was the opportune moment, foreseen in the Prince's plan of battle, for the advance of the cruisers lying in the West Schelde.
In order to deceive the enemy as to their number, they rapidly approached, accompanied by the torpedo-boats which again sent up their clouds of smoke.The English Admiral, completely surprised by the double attack, was obliged to divide his attention.
Certainly this torpedo attack was still a hazardous undertaking, under existing conditions.The English shot well, and two German boats were sunk by the enemy's shells.Three others, however, hit their mark, damaging three of the English ships so severely that they were incapable of manoeuvring.
It was especially disadvantageous to the English that their torpedo-boats, owing to the unforeseen change in the formation of the battleships, were deprived of the necessary protection.The German destroyers were not slow to make full use of this favourable situation, and began to chase them.In this engagement, which the speed of the little vessels rendered especially exciting for those who took part in it, the pursuers succeeded in destroying four English torpedo-boats without themselves suffering any damage worth mentioning.The others escaped, and, for the time, might be regarded as out of action.
The enemy having altered his front, the Prince-Admiral had turned right about, so that he might enter into action with all the guns of one side.The English Admiral also doubled, but the manoeuvre proved the cause of a fatal misfortune.Whether the disturbance of the tactical unity by the loss of the three torpedoed vessels was the cause of it, or whether the first and second divisions were unaccustomed to manoeuvre together, the Formidable carried out orders so clumsily, that she was rammed amidships by her neighbour the Renown, and immediately heeled over and sunk in a few minutes, carrying hundreds of brave English sailors with her into the deep.
The Renown herself, whose ram had caused the fearful disaster, had not escaped without severe injury in the collision, which had shattered the mighty floating fortress in all its joints.The two first fore compartments, as the bulkheads did not hold together, had filled with water.This caused the vessel to heel over; her value as a fighting instrument was thereby sensibly diminished.
Thus the first great catastrophe in the battle was caused, not by the power of the enemy, but by the clumsy manoeuvring of a friendly ship.This naturally caused many of the spectators, deeply affected by the sinking of the magnificent vessel and her gallant crew, to ask themselves whether the great perfection attained in the construction of modern ships of war was not to a great extent counterbalanced by the defects that were combined with the increasing size and fighting strength of these gigantic ironclads.
No ship of the line, no frigate, not even the little gunboat of earlier times could have disappeared from the line of battle so speedily and without leaving a trace behind as the Formidable, built of mighty dimensions and equipped with all the appliances of naval technique.No doubt her armour-plate and steel turrets would have been able successfully to resist a hail of the heaviest projectiles, but a misunderstood steering order had been sufficient to send her to the bottom.Neither the double bottoms nor the division of the bulkheads, which should have prevented the inrush of an excessive amount of water, had been able to avert the fate which threatens every modern ironclad when severely damaged below the water-line.The wooden ship of former times might have been riddled like a sieve without sinking.But the stability of a modern ironclad could be endangered by a single leak, whether caused by a torpedo or a ram, to such an extent that the gigantic mass of iron would be drawn down into the depths by its own weight in a few minutes.
A running fire now went on at a distance of about 2,000 yards, in which the superiority of the Krupp guns was as clearly manifested as the admirable training of the German artillerists, in which the English were far inferior.Certainly, the German ships also suffered various injuries, but no serious damage had as yet occurred.
The three torpedoed and helpless English warships offered especially favourable targets to the German cruisers.The latter, taking up positions at a suitable distance, kept up such a heavy fire upon the vessels, which could scarcely move, that their surrender was inevitable.But before deciding on this, the English offered an heroic resistance, and many of their shots took effect.
The conning tower of the Friedrich Karl was pierced by a shell, and the brave commander with those around him found a glorious soldier's death.Other more or less serious injuries were sustained, and it was almost a miracle that no vital damage was done to any part of the ships' hulls.
