She now began to list, although not
greatly damaged, on her port side till her keel showed. Her crew
showed remarkable bravery.
The men lined up as though at a review and began to sing the German
national airs, intending to go to their deaths in that formation. But
an officer on the _Arethusa_ shouted to them through a megaphone to
jump while they could to save their lives. This had a psychological
effect, and as the starboard side of her hull slowly came up her men
were seen scrambling on it from behind her taff rail and creeping
down toward her keel. Some of them almost walked into the water
while she was in that position. Her guns were pointing toward the
sky, one of them slowly revolving. Finally, when she was completely
upside down she went under. Many of her crew were picked up by
British small boats, and her captain, who was one of them, was taken
to England, where he died later from the results of this experience
and was buried with full naval honors.
The German destroyers had meanwhile come between their own cruisers
and those of the enemy and emitted volumes of heavy smoke, which
they hoped would form an effective screen between the former and
the gunners on the latter. Admiral Hipper then ordered all of his
ships to turn northward, in the hope of getting away behind this
screen, but the British admiral anticipated this maneuver and changed
the course of his ships so that he again had the German ships in
view after both fleets had driven through the smoke.
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