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At 9:50 a.m., the British destroyers made an unsuccessful torpedo attack on the German ship, and the German torpedo boats immediately returned fire, followed by the Königsberg and Frankfurt light cruisers who also tried to make up their swords, but also missed.

At 10:30 a.m., the German light cruisers finally saw two dreadnoughts under the command of Brigadier Lout sailing eastward, trying to lure the British war cruisers through the minefield and lure them in front of the German light cruisers, thus blocking their way except to retreat to the northwest.

However, due to the misreading of the signal flag from the Königsberg, the German dreadnoughts began to turn northwest and sail straight to the battlefield, joining up with the German light cruisers.

The German dreadnoughts began firing at the British light cruisers and hit the leading British ships, forcing the British light cruisers to retreat.

However, the British war cruisers continued to pursue and put pressure on the German ships, like lions and rabbits.

And just as the German dreadnought was about to turn to meet it, a 15-inch shell hit the Königsberg, causing its hull to burst into flames.

It was the last shot in the campaign, and the Germans then claimed that the British had turned to secede.

The British, on the other hand, claimed that the Germans were turning to disengage, and considering the danger of the minefield, the British gave up the pursuit.

At this time, the Hindenburg and Moltke also arrived to support, which gave the Germans two battleships and two battle cruisers at this time.

Although their 12-inch and 11-inch guns were far less powerful than the 15-inch guns of the British Battlecruisers, they had more guns and better protection than the British's light Battlecruisers.

The level of protection against prestige and counterattacks was only slightly better than that of armored cruisers, and the level of protection of the Valiant class was only slightly better than that of light cruisers.

During this period, only the Tiger was considered a heavy battlecruiser capable of fighting heavy battle cruisers like Moltke and Hindenburg in the battle line.

And the Tiger was at this time in the fleet of battle cruisers covering in the rear and confronting the German dreadnoughts, which were also the covering force.

Despite this, the ultra-high speed of the British Light Cruisers gave them the initiative to engage or not.

At such times, Fisher might claim that this was sufficient justification for the much-criticized light battlecruisers, who were able to engage the German capital ships to delay time to cover the light cruisers' retreat, and then quickly turn to disengage when the timing was unfavorable.

On the other hand, those who had been looking at the battlecruisers might scoff at the lack of protection that left the British battlecruisers with no choice but to open the cruisers.

Over the course of the battle, the Germans claimed to have hit the British battle cruisers five times – while the British claimed none – and hit the light cruisers six times and the destroyers seven times.

British records state that only the Caledon suffered more serious damage, being hit twice, one of which was from the main guns of a German dreadnought.

The other ships were hit multiple times, including the Calypso twice, and the Cardiff, which was hit five times, but all suffered minor damage.

German records confirm that the German light cruiser was hit by three 6-inch and two 15-inch shells, one of which hit the Hindenburg amidship directly, breaking all three of her chimneys and penetrating the upper armor.

Eventually, it exploded in the coal bunker and started a fire, but fortunately the hull was not further damaged thanks to the protection of the bunker.

According to the shrapnel, the Germans quickly confirmed that it was a 15-inch/381-mm shell, and it was also the first time that the Germans confirmed that the British had dispatched a battle cruiser armed with 15-inch guns.

German records also indicate that the steamship Ködingen, which was used as an observation post at sea, was captured by the British, and that it was anchored at a specific position as an observation post and was also used to mark the starting point of the operation.

Records indicate that the Cutingen was covered by 15-inch naval gun fire from the British Rangers before being captured, and although it was not damaged, the crew was forced to abandon ship.

On the British side, the Admiralty recorded that a minesweeper of the German forward formation was sunk, and that a minesweeper of the second formation caused a large explosion after being hit by a light cruiser, and the other ships in the formation retreated.

The 3rd formation retreated south and was pursued by the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron.

"A pursuit battle continued in a smoke screen to less than 30 nautical miles from the Gulf of Helgoland, when the fleet witnessed four German battleships appearing ahead and opening fire, and a main gun shell hit the stern of the Kaledun".

The Admiralty recorded that one German light cruiser had "burst into flames" by this time, while the other appeared to have been heavily damaged and slowed down significantly.

Admiralty records also state that the other light cruiser was hit and immediately exploded violently during the final 15-inch gun salvo from the Counterattack, at which point the Counterattack, along with the other battle cruisers, was following the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron in pursuit of the German ship.

It is likely that the large amount of smoke released by the German ship made the British observation post mistakenly believe that the German ship was heavily damaged, caught fire, and smoked a lot.

The British side suffered 22 dead and 43 wounded in this battle, while the German side suffered 21 dead and 40 wounded.

Judging by the results alone, it was clear that the Germans were the losers, having sunk one minesweeper and one light cruiser badly damaged, while the British had only a few lightly wounded.

But the outcome of the battle could not be judged simply, and the Germans could also claim that they were the victorious side, since they still managed to protect their squadron of minesweepers retreated almost unscathed, losing only one ship.

After the war, the German command was deeply skeptical of the observation that the German ships reported that the Valiant class had only two main turrets.

Despite this, the first encounter with the British Light Cruiser made an impressed Admiral Scheer, especially with their surprisingly high speed compared to the previous ships.

He said after the war that the engagement had left him with the impression that such an astonishing speed would have to come at the cost of drastic armor cuts.

Because he saw that the British battle cruisers would hesitate even in the face of the dense artillery fire of the German light cruisers, and that she would only run over a real heavy capital ship.

According to the records of both sides, the best possible estimate is that the wind direction at that time was west-northwest, the wind force was 2-3, and there were slight waves over the sea.

The horizon to the west is obscured by sea fog, while the east looks a little clearer. This gave the British an advantage, at least in observing the engaged enemy ships.

A careful study of the archives and eyewitness accounts of both sides clearly proves that the so-called rumor about the battle between the Counterattack and two German dreadnoughts, which has been widely circulated in the stalls, did not actually take place.

Despite the very chaotic, scattered and conflicting records, the Light War Cruiser fired dozens of 15-inch shells during the battle. Some of the records say that Valiant launched about 90 of them.

Shortly after the start of the battle, one of the main guns in the bow of the Glorious was withdrawn from battle due to a malfunction.

One of the records:

"On 17 November, during a reconnaissance operation in the Gulf of Heligoland, our light cruisers spotted three groups of enemy ships heading northwest.

The first group includes 10 minesweepers and destroyers;

The second group consists of 8 to 10 ships that appear to resemble submarines, but three of them are large ships with chimneys;

The third group consisted of at least four light cruisers and several destroyers.

Our ships immediately opened fire, one of the minesweepers in the first group was sunk, and the rest of the ships immediately released a smoke screen and fled to the northeast.

The ensuing blow caused a large explosion of another enemy ship in the second group and appeared to sink it, and the rest of the enemy ships quickly withdrew.

The third group of enemy ships turned to the southeast and was pursued by the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron, the 6th Light Cruiser Squadron and the 1st Cruiser Squadron.

A pursuit battle continued in smoke to less than 30 nautical miles from the Helgoland Bay, when the fleet witnessed four German battleships appearing ahead and firing, and a main gun shell hitting the stern of the Caledon.

One enemy cruiser was seen blazing, another was badly damaged and slowed down, and another was hit and exploded violently in the final salvo of the battlecruiser Counterattack, which was following the light cruiser in pursuit.

Our damage was minor, only the Caledon was hit twice, and the damage was severe;

The Calypso was also hit twice, and the Cardiff was hit five times. None of the ships involved in the battle, with the exception of the Kaledon, suffered damage that required withdrawal from the battle.

The total number of casualties on our side was 1 officer and 21 sailors killed, 4 officers and 39 sailors wounded.

We captured 22 members of the enemy ship's crew. ”

There was also a letter to Fisher from a high-ranking officer who went to war:

"December 12, 1917~

Dear Lord Fisher~

In the Gulf of Helgoland, the only large capital ships that can keep up with the enemy's movements are counterattack, bravery and glory (and alibi prestige and rage), and they almost hit the enemy hard!

Without their cover, our light cruisers would not have had a chance to 'see' the enemy ships, but rather they would have been killed before they saw them!

When public discourse tried to condemn your work as a committee member in 1914 and 1915, especially the part of your work that you personally did for these new capital ships, I am glad that none of their remarks had a subversive impact on your design work!

Therefore, I am very honored to tell you that they have fully confirmed their success with real results. ”

This is undoubtedly the best affirmation of the light war patrols who have been stereotyped for a long time.

The biggest difficulty in filming this plot was the battleship, the Valiant class and later the extremely unique Fury.

Although they have been historically dubbed as "large light cruisers", which can be said to be forged and false, they have long been included in the description of battle cruisers, which is of great historical significance.

If you want to shoot it, you have to make a one-to-one replica or simply shoot it on the original battleship.

Let's start with these two battleships, in fact, their original official name is still the same prestige as the "light battlecruiser" of the counterattack.

After increasing protection to ensure operational capabilities against enemy battlecruiser fleets, the prestige class took off the title of "light" in the official caliber (although armor protection was still seriously insufficient).

The Valiant class, on the other hand, always retains the classification of light battlecruisers, but by no means the so-called "large light cruisers" as they are often called.

Even after Fisher's resignation in May 1915, he referred to the ships as light battlecruisers in all official documents and letters to the Prime Minister, the Admiralty and the Royal Navy.

Not only Fisher, but also his successors.

Even in the letters of accountability sent by Fisher and his successors to the Prime Minister on 15-1915 and 1916 on March 15-1915 and 1916 respectively regarding the shortage of destroyers, other light high-speed ships, and battlecruisers, they referred to bravery, rage, and prestige as light battlecruisers.

The term "large light cruiser" was unofficially accepted because the Valiant class was not capable of performing the role of a conventional battlecruiser, and was assigned to the light cruiser squadron before entering the 1st Cruiser Squadron.

Despite this, their official classification remained light battlecruisers throughout World War I.

In a letter to the Prime Minister dated 15 March 1916, Fisher strongly refuted the assertion that no new large ships could be started after the start of the previous term's shipbuilding programme.

He said that in order to build the lead ship of a new fast battle cruiser (apparently referring to the incomparable) in the summer of 1915, he had instructed the Cummel Laird shipyard to extend a slipway slipway to 1,000 feet.

He was very saddened by the decision of the then Admiralty management, because the 3rd Admiralty had stated:

"All the large slipways are filled...... Therefore, no more of the largest ships can be built".

On the contrary, the slipway, which had been prepared since the summer of 1915, is still empty.

This made him very frustrated.

To Fisher's annoyance, research confirmed that other slipways could also be converted to build capital ships in a short period of time.

The lack of new heavy battlecruisers will make light battlecruisers, especially the Prestige class, even more important.

As with the Prestige class, the progress of the works of the Valiant class was delayed immediately after Fisher's resignation from the Admiralty.

In March 1916, Fisher stated that if he had remained in his seat at the Admiralty, the Brave and Glorious should have been delivered in May, and the Fury could have been delivered in July.

He further argued that if it had not been for the ban on all new large ships that could not be launched by the end of 1915, the construction of the Valiant class would have begun much earlier.

This ban, passed to the Admiralty in 1914 by the then First Admiralty, meant that no new ships larger than light cruisers could be built.

These controversial ships were originally built according to the plans of the equally controversial Fisher's Baltic raids.

The plan calls for about 600 low-draft vessels capable of entering the shallow waters of the Baltic Sea to support polar bear landing operations off the coast of Poramenia.

Such an army of polar bears could land on the coast just 90 nautical miles from Berlin and storm Berlin and, if the old rules of war still applied, force Germany to surrender in late 1915 or 1916 and end the war – all theoretically, of course.

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