Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt, commander of the Harwich Force, in the light cruiser 'Arethusa' with 16 destroyers of the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla, and Captain Blunt in the scout cruiser 'Fearless' with 15 destroyers of the 1st Destroyer Flotilla, steamed into the Heligoland Bight to attack German patrol lines shortly before 07.00 on 28 August 1914. They were supported by Commodore Goodenough with the six cruisers of the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron, who was in turn covered by the five battlecruisers of Vice-Admiral Beatty. In the ensuing confused action three German cruisers and one torpedo boat were sunk and other cruisers damaged, with over 1000 German officers and men being lost. On the British side, the 'Arethusa' and the destroyers 'Laertes', 'Laurel' and 'Liberty' were damaged and casualties were 59 dead and 43 wounded.
This drawing shows destroyers of the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla after their action with the German cruiser 'Mainz' (1909) which is seen on fire on the right. The destroyer in the right foreground is taking the badly damaged 'Laurel' (1913), the one behind, in tow. Two of the destroyers are shown with the letter L painted on the hull but this should have been painted out on the outbreak of war. The battlecruisers 'Lion' (1910), 'Queen Mary' (1912) and 'Princess Royal' (1911) are coming into action in the left distance. Wyllie produced a variant of this composition in watercolour for his and M.F. Wren's 'Sea Fights of the Great War' (f. p.24) in which tye positions of the destroyers and' 'Mainz' is almost the same, but the ' Lion' much more prominent in the centre. See also PAF1232.