 On 18 August , the Germans again sortied , this time to bombard Sunderland ; Scheer hoped to draw out Beatty 's battlecruisers and destroy them . British signals intelligence <unk> German wireless transmissions , allowing Jellicoe enough time to deploy the Grand Fleet in an attempt to engage in a decisive battle . Both sides withdrew the following day , after their opponents ' submarines inflicted losses in the Action of 19 August : the British cruisers Nottingham and Falmouth were both torpedoed and sunk by German U @-@ boats and the German battleship SMS <unk> was damaged by the British submarine <unk> . After returning to port , Jellicoe issued an order that prohibited <unk> the fleet in the southern half of the North Sea due to the overwhelming risk from mines and U @-@ boats . 
