Just at
four o'clock she began to list to port, thus having her starboard
guns put out of action, for they pointed toward the sky, and the
shells which came from them described parabolas, dropping into
the water at safe distance from the English ship. More and more
she listed, till her port beam ends were in the cold waters of the
South Atlantic, and while in that position she sank some fifteen
minutes later.
Meanwhile the duel between the _Gneisenau_ and _Inflexible_ had
been going on. A 12-inch shell from one of the British cruisers
struck one of the after gun turrets of the _Gneisenau_ and swept
it overboard. The German ship used the sinking _Scharnhorst_ as a
screen and tried to take on both British ships. Still she was able
to plant some effective shells against the _Invincible_ as a final
reply. By half-past five she was listing heavily to starboard and
her engines had stopped. The British ship, thinking she was surely
done for, ceased firing at her and watched her for ten minutes,
while a single gun on board of her fired at intervals. The three
ships _Carnarvon, Inflexible_, and _Invincible_ now closed in on
her and punished her till the flag at her stern was hauled down.
But the ensign at her peak continued to fly. Just at six o'clock,
with this color still in position, she suddenly heeled to starboard,
while the men of her crew made hastily up her slanting decks and
then climbed over on to the exposed part of her upturned port side.
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