 Hipper turned south to flee , but was limited to 23 kn ( 43 km / h ; 26 mph ) , which was Blücher 's maximum speed at the time . The pursuing British battlecruisers were steaming at 27 kn ( 50 km / h ; 31 mph ) , and quickly caught up to the German ships . At 09 : 52 , Lion opened fire on Blücher from a range of approximately 20 @,@ 000 yards ( 18 @,@ 000 m ) ; shortly after , Princess Royal and Tiger began firing as well . At 10 : 09 , the British guns made their first hit on Blücher . Two minutes later , the German ships began returning fire , primarily concentrating on Lion , from a range of 18 @,@ 000 yd ( 16 @,@ 000 m ) . At 10 : 28 , Lion was struck on the waterline , which tore a hole in the side of the ship and flooded a coal bunker . At around this time , Blücher scored a hit with a 21 cm shell on Lion 's forward turret . The shell failed to penetrate the armor , but had concussion effect and temporarily disabled the left gun . At 10 : 30 , New Zealand — the fourth ship in Beatty 's line — came within range of Blücher and opened fire . By 10 : 35 , the range had closed to 17 @,@ 500 yd ( 16 @,@ 000 m ) , at which point the entire German line was within the effective range of the British ships . Beatty ordered his battlecruisers to engage their German counterparts . 
