The Scharnhorst caught fire forward, but not seriously, and her fire slackened perceptibly; the Gneisenau was badly hit by the Inflexible.

At 3:30 P.M. the Scharnhorst led around about ten points to starboard; just previously her fire had slackened perceptibly, and one shell had shot away her third funnel; some guns were not firing, and it would appear that the turn was dictated by a desire to bring her starboard guns into action.  The effect of the fire on the Scharnhorst became more and more apparent in consequence of smoke from fires, and also escaping steam.  At times a shell would cause a large hole to appear in her side, through which could be seen a dull red glow of flame.  At 4:04 P.M. the Scharnhorst, whose flag remained flying to the last, suddenly listed heavily to port, and within a minute it became clear that she was a doomed ship, for the list increased very rapidly until she lay on her beam ends, and at 4:17 P.M. she disappeared.

The Gneisenau passed on the far side of her late flagship, and continued a determined but ineffectual effort to fight the two battle cruisers.

At 5:08 P.M. the forward funnel was knocked over and remained resting against the second funnel.  She was evidently in serious straits, and her fire slackened very much.

At 5:15 P.M. one of the Gneisenau’s shells struck the Invincible; this was her last effective effort.

At 5:30 P.M. she turned toward the flagship with a heavy list to starboard, and appeared stopped, with steam pouring from her escape pipes and smoke from shell and fires rising everywhere.  About this time I ordered the signal “Cease fire!” but before it was hoisted the Gneisenau opened fire again, and continued to fire from time to time with a single gun.

At 5:40 P.M. the three ships closed in on the Gneisenau, and at this time the flag flying at her fore truck was apparently hauled down, but the flag at the peak continued flying.

At 5:50 P.M.  “Cease fire!” was made.

At 6 P.M. the Gneisenau heeled over very suddenly, showing the men gathered on her decks and then walking on her side as she lay for a minute on her beam ends before sinking.

The prisoners of war from the Gneisenau report that by the time the ammunition was expended some 600 men had been killed and wounded.  The surviving officers and men were all ordered on deck and told to provide themselves with hammocks and any articles that could support them in the water.

When the ship capsized and sank there were probably some 200 unwounded survivors in the water, but, owing to the shock of the cold water, many were drowned within sight of the boats and ship.

Every effort was made to save life as quickly as possible, both by boats and from the ships; lifebuoys were thrown and ropes lowered, but only a portion could be rescued.  The Invincible alone rescued 108 men, fourteen of whom were found to be dead after being brought on board.  These men were buried at sea the following day with full military honors.