 Recent historians , however , hold to the German account of the ship 's sinking . Black Prince briefly engaged the German battleship <unk> at about 23 : 35 <unk> , scoring two hits with 6 @-@ inch shells . <unk> from the rest of the British fleet , Black Prince approached the German lines at approximately midnight . She turned away from the German battleships , but it was too late . The German battleship <unk> fixed Black Prince in her searchlights and opened fire . Up to five other German ships , including the battleships Nassau , <unk> , and Friedrich der <unk> , joined in the bombardment , with return fire from Black Prince being ineffective . Most of the German ships were between 750 and 1 @,@ 500 yards ( 690 and 1 @,@ 370 m ) of Black Prince — effectively point @-@ blank range for contemporary naval gunnery . The ship was hit by at least twelve heavy shells and several smaller ones , sinking within 15 minutes . There were no survivors from her crew , all <unk> being killed . 
