 Admiral Hipper set sail on 15 December 1914 for another such raid and successfully bombarded several English towns , but British destroyers escorting the 1st BCS had already encountered German destroyers of the High Seas Fleet at 5 : 15 am and fought an inconclusive action with them . Vice Admiral Sir George Warrender , commanding the 2nd Battle Squadron , had received a signal at 5 : 40 that the destroyer Lynx was engaging enemy destroyers although Beatty had not . The destroyer Shark spotted the German armoured cruiser Roon and her escorts at about 7 : 00 , but could not transmit the message until 7 : 25 . Admiral Warrender received the signal , as did the battlecruiser New Zealand , but Beatty did not , despite the fact that New Zealand had been specifically tasked to relay messages between the destroyers and Beatty . Warrender attempted to pass on Shark 's message to Beatty at 7 : 36 , but did not manage to make contact until 7 : 55 . Beatty reversed course when he got the message and dispatched New Zealand to search for Roon . She was being overhauled by New Zealand when Beatty received messages that Scarborough was being shelled at 9 : 00 . Beatty ordered New Zealand to rejoin the squadron and turned west for Scarborough . 
