The Germans moved north, and within minutes HMS Lion, Beatty's ship, came under several artillery fire and left the formation heading south, in flames. The German artillery was very effective, and shortly after Lion's escape several rounds from Von Der Tann damaged HMS Indefafigable. At 4:30 a.m., the building exploded into a cloud of debris and flames. When the smoke cleared, the building was gone. Tiger and New Zealand, astern, steered south, apparently to avoid Indefatigable's fate, and soon lost contact with Queen Mary and the German fleet. The Queen Mary was now isolated, for in the fury of the fighting he had not seen the Tiger and the New Zealand turn south. The Queen Mary found herself facing a virtually intact German line, and a few minutes later received three rounds from Derfflinger's 11-inch guns. Out of control, the Queen Mary crossed paths with the German fleet and exploded. It was 4:25 a.m. Beatty had lost two buildings, and the Lion had been reduced to a burning wreck in just 75 minutes.
At this moment the 5th Squadron entered the scene and opened fire on the German line at a distance of 19,000 yards. The range was far too great for the German guns, and their fleet was forced into retreat. But Hipper realized that he still had the advantage of surprise and greater speed, and returned to the charge, this time from the west, to attack Beatty's buildings already badly tested. On hearing of the loss of Queen Mary and Indefatigable, and learning that Lion had been engulfed in flames, Jellicoe asked the three cruisers Invincible, Inflexible and Indomitable to take command of Beatty's squadron and seek revenge. No. 5 Squadron, which was pursuing Hipper's Crusaders to the northeast, failed to notice that their prey was now heading southeast. Hipper, now heading south, passed the flaming Lion. Hipper gave the order to sink it with a torpedo, and the V-48 torpedo boat sent it to the bottom.