 At around 12 : 30 , Mainz encountered the British cruiser Arethusa and several destroyers . The ships engaged each other for the next forty @-@ five minutes . Fifteen minutes into the engagement , three British cruisers appeared ; Mainz broke off the engagement and attempted to escape from the superior British forces . The pursuing British cruisers scored several hits , but by 12 : 55 , Mainz had escaped under cover of a dense smoke screen . Another British cruiser , Fearless , and six destroyers , appeared on Mainz 's port side , however , and attacked the fleeing German ship . Mainz quickly scored hits on the destroyers Laurel , Liberty and Laertes ; Laurel was damaged and forced to withdraw and Laertes was disabled by a salvo that hit her engine room . 
