These, the _Doon_ and the _Hardy_,
drew the fire of the German guns, and, seeing it was impossible to
withstand the German fire, they made off and escaped. This time
the Germans were better informed about the conditions they dealt
with, and evidently had no fear of mines, for they came to within
two miles of the shore. The forts on shore were bombarded and private
houses near by were hit by German shells, killing two women who
lived in one of them. The forts tried to reply to the German guns,
but those of the English battery were by no means modern, and firing
them only served to further convince the Germans that the place
was fortified; they inflicted no damage on the German ships.
The lighthouse was the next target chosen by the Germans, one of
their shells going right through it, but leaving it standing. Within
fifty minutes 1,500 German shells were fired into the town and harbor.
While two of the three cruisers which were engaged in bombarding
drew off further to sea and fired at Hartlepool, the third remained
to finish the battery on shore, but in spite of the fact that it
was subjected to long and heavy firing, it was not so terribly
damaged. Many of the shells from the other two ships went over
the towns entirely and buried themselves in the countryside that
heretofore had been turned up only by the peaceful plow. Other shells
did havoc in the business and residential sections of Hartlepool
and West Hartlepool, bringing down buildings and killing civilians
in them as well as on the streets.
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