At around 12:30, "Mainz" encountered the British cruiser and several destroyers. The ships engaged each other for the next forty-five minutes. Fifteen minutes into the engagement, three British cruisers appeared ; "Mainz" broke off the engagement and attempted to escape from the superior British forces. The pursuing British cruisers scored several hits, but by 12:55, "Mainz" had escaped under cover of a dense smoke screen. Another British cruiser, , and six destroyers, appeared on "Mainz"s port side, however, and attacked the fleeing German ship. "Mainz" quickly scored hits on the destroyers , and ; "Laurel" was damaged and forced to withdraw and "Laertes" was disabled by a salvo that hit her engine room.