 The initial action was fought primarily by the British and German battlecruiser formations in the afternoon , but by 18 : 00 , the Grand Fleet approached the scene . Fifteen minutes later , Jellicoe gave the order to turn and deploy the fleet for action . The transition from their cruising formation caused congestion with the rear divisions , forcing Marlborough and many of the other ships to reduce speed to 8 knots ( 15 km / h ; 9 @.@ 2 mph ) to avoid colliding with each other . The British ships initially had poor visibility and Marlborough could only <unk> make out a group of German Kaiser @-@ class battleships at 18 : 17 . In the span of four minutes , she fired seven salvos , first at 10 @,@ 000 yards ( 9 @,@ 100 m ) and then at 13 @,@ 000 yards ( 12 @,@ 000 m ) . Marlborough 's gunners claimed to have made hits with the 5th and 7th salvos but these claims are unlikely . Her guns were then masked by a burning cruiser , probably the armoured cruiser HMS Warrior . 
