 Lion 's first action was as flagship of the battlecruiser force under the command of Admiral Beatty during the Battle of Heligoland Bight on 28 August 1914 . Beatty 's ships had originally been intended as distant support of the British cruisers and destroyers closer to the German coast in case the large ships of the High Seas Fleet sortied in response to the British attacks . They turned south at full speed at 11 : 35 am when the British light forces failed to disengage on schedule and the rising tide meant that German capital ships would be able to clear the bar at the mouth of the Jade Estuary . The brand @-@ new light cruiser Arethusa had been crippled earlier in the battle and was under fire from the German light cruisers Strassburg and Cöln when Beatty 's battlecruisers loomed out of the mist at 12 : 37 pm . Strassburg was able to duck into the mists and evade fire , but Cöln remained visible and was quickly crippled by fire from the squadron . Beatty , however , was distracted from the task of finishing her off by the sudden appearance of the elderly light cruiser Ariadne directly to his front . He turned in pursuit and reduced her to a flaming hulk in only three salvos at close range ( under 6 @,@ 000 yards ( 5 @.@ 5 km ) ) . At 1 : 10 pm Beatty turned north and made a general signal to retire . Beatty 's main body encountered the crippled Cöln shortly after turning north and she was sunk by two salvos from Lion . 
