At around midnight on 1 June, the "Helgoland"- and "Nassau"-class ships in the center of the German line came into contact with the British 4th Destroyer Flotilla. A chaotic night battle ensued, during which rammed the British destroyer . The 4th Flotilla broke off the action temporarily to regroup, but at around 01:00, unwittingly stumbled into the German dreadnoughts a second time. "Oldenburg" and "Helgoland" opened fire on the two leading British destroyers, but a British shell destroyed "Oldenburg"s forward search light. Shell fragments rained down on the bridge and wounded the ship's captain, "Kapitän" Hopfner, and killed his second in command, "Kapitänleutnant" Rabius, along with a number of other men on the bridge, including the helmsman. "Oldenburg" was temporarily without anyone to steer the ship; she was in danger of ramming either the ship to her rear or to her front. "Kapitän" Hopfner, despite his injuries, took the helm and brought the ship back into line.