Gallantly did Admiral Beatty on his victorious Lion struggle to hold his own till the British battleships came up; but one after another his hard-pressed cruisers succumbed to weight of metal, until five of them had sunk beneath the sea, with all their devoted crews, before the near approach of Admiral Jellicoe and his dreadnaughts sent the enemy scuttling back to port, to claim a victory that startled the world for a day, only to disappear when the full extent of the German losses became known, and it was learned that the German high-seas fleet had lost some of its proudest units, that its losses, not only relatively but absolutely almost equaled those of the British fleet, and that the British remained in full control of the high seas, after scouring them in vain for further signs of the enemy.

THE BRITISH LOSSES.

The ships lost by the British in the battle included three battle-cruisers, the Queen Mary, Indefatigable, and Invincible; three light cruisers, the Defense, Black Prince, and Warrior, and eight destroyers, the Tipperary, Turbulent, Nestor, Alcaster, Fortune, Sparrowhawk, Ardent, and Shark.  The Warrior, badly damaged, was taken in tow, but sank before reaching port.  All but one of its crew were saved.

The British dreadnaught Marlborough was also damaged, but succeeded in making port for repairs.

Following are particulars of the British cruisers sunk: 

QUEEN MARY—­27,000 tons; 720 feet long.  Eight 13.5 inch guns, sixteen 4 inch guns, three 21 inch torpedo tubes.  Complement, 900.  Cost, $10,000,000.

INDEFATIGABLE—­18,750 tons:  578 feet long.  Eight 12 inch guns, sixteen 4 inch guns, three 21 inch torpedo tubes.  Complement, 900.  Cost, $8,000,000.

INVINCIBLE—­17,250 tons; 562 feet long.  Eight 12 inch guns, sixteen 4 inch guns, three 21 inch torpedo tubes.  Complement, 731.  Cost, $8,760,000.

DEFENSE—­14,600 tons; 525 feet long.  Four 9.2 inch guns, ten 7.5 inch guns, sixteen 12 pounders, five torpedo tubes.  Complement, 755.  Cost, $6,810,000.

BLACK PRINCE—­13,550 tons; 480 feet long.  Six 9.2 inch guns, twenty pounders, three torpedo tubes.  Complement, 704.  Cost, $5,750,000.

WARRIOR—­13,550 tons; 480 feet long.  Six 9.2 inch guns, four 7.5 inch guns, twenty-four 3 pounders, three torpedo tubes.  Complement, 704, all saved but one.  Cost, $5,900,000.

The destroyers sunk were each of about 950 tons, 266 feet long, and carried a complement of 100 men.  Only a few survivors were picked up after the battle.

THE GERMAN LOSSES.

The German losses, as claimed by the British, included two dreadnaughts, believed to be the Hindenburgh and Westfalen, each of approximately 26,000 tons, with a complement of 1,000 men; the battle-cruiser Derfflinger, 26,600 tons, complement, 900 men; the battleship Pommern, of 12,997 tons, complement, 729 men, cost, $6,000,000; the new fast cruiser Elbing, of 5,000 tons, complement, 500 men; the cruisers Frauenlob, of 2,715 tons, complement, 264 men, and Wiesbaden, not registered; a number of destroyers, variously estimated at from six to sixteen, and one submarine rammed and sunk.  Besides these, the battle-cruiser Lutzow, of 26,600 tons, was reported badly damaged, and the battle-cruiser Seydlitz, of equal size, suffered heavily in the battle and was hotly pursued to the mine fields of Helgoland.