 At 4 : 11 pm Princess Royal observed the track of a torpedo fired by Moltke , pass underneath her , but it was thought that the torpedo was fired by a U @-@ boat on the disengaged side . This was confirmed when the destroyer Landrail reported having spotted a periscope before the torpedo tracks were seen . The range had grown too far for accurate shooting so Beatty altered course four points to port to close the range again between 4 : 12 and 4 : 15 . This maneuver exposed Lion to the fire of the German battlecruisers and she was hit several times . The smoke and fumes from these hits caused Derfflinger to lose sight of Princess Royal , and she switched her fire to Queen Mary at 4 : 16 . By 4 : 25 the range was down to 14 @,@ 400 yards ( 13 @,@ 200 m ) and Beatty turned two points to starboard to open the range again . However , it was too late for Queen Mary , which was hit multiple times in quick succession about that time , and her forward magazines exploded . At 4 : 30 the light cruiser Southampton , scouting in front of Beatty 's ships , spotted the lead elements of the High Seas Fleet charging north at top speed . Three minutes later she sighted the topmasts of Vice @-@ Admiral Reinhard Scheer 's battleships , but did not transmit a message to Beatty for another five minutes . Beatty continued south for another two minutes to confirm the sighting himself before ordering a sixteen @-@ point turn to starboard in succession . During the ' Run to the South ' Princess Royal was hit a total of six times by Derfflinger , but none of these were serious . 
