The _Lion_ moved away to the north-west, and in the afternoon her engines began to give serious trouble. The _Indomitable_, which had by this time settled with the _Bluecher_, took the _Lion_ in tow, and after some hours of great anxiety brought her safely to port. The towing home of the _Lion_ by the _Indomitable_ was a very fine feat of seamanship. She could only proceed at five knots an hour, and at this snail's pace was a fair target for submarines. None, however, dared attack her; for she bristled with torpedo defence guns, and was surrounded by destroyers.
By twenty minutes past twelve the _Attack_ overtook the _Princess Royal_, on which Admiral Beatty hoisted his flag. He now discovered that his squadron had broken off the fight, and was retiring northwards. We do not know exactly why the enemy was not followed up; but as the British ships were then only forty miles from the minefield, it is probable that the admiral in temporary command thought that his vessels would be endangered if he proceeded any further. After orders had been given to clear away and make for port, the grimy stokers of the _Princess Royal_ swarmed on deck and greeted Admiral Beatty with a shout of "Well done, David!"
Only by sheer good luck did any of the German ships escape. Had the _Lion_ not been disabled, or had the squadron included another battle cruiser, it is probable that none of the German ships would have reached home to tell the tale. There was much disappointment in Britain when it was known that only the slowest and weakest of the German Dreadnoughts had been accounted for. Our losses were few: only fourteen men had been killed and six wounded; no British vessel had been lost; the _Lion_ had been hit fifteen times, and the _Tiger_ eight times, but the damage was soon repaired, and when a party of journalists visited the ships in the following October they could not see the scars of battle until they were pointed out. The Germans lost the _Bluecher_; the _Seydlitz_ and _Derfflinger_ were very hard hit, and many of their crews must have perished.
During the remainder of the year 1915 the German Fleet wisely remained in harbour. The German High Sea Fleet had become the Kiel Canal fleet, and nothing more.