The "Helgoland"-class ships first entered direct combat at 19:20 on the first day of the battle. "Ostfriesland", "Helgoland", and "Thüringen" began firing on , which, along with the other s of the 5th Battle squadron, had been pursuing the German battlecruiser force. With the exception of "Ostfriesland", the firing only lasted for four minutes, because the German line had been in the process of turning to the east-northeast, and the ships quickly lost sight of the British battleships. "Thüringen" and "Helgoland" only fired around 20 main battery shells before they lost sight of their target. "Ostfriesland", however, was able to keep visual contact until 19:45, at which point she, too, ceased firing. At 20:15, during the third "Gefechtskehrtwendung", "Helgoland" was struck by a shell in the forward part of the ship. The shell tore a hole in the hull and rained splinters on the foremost port side 5.9 in gun; approximately 80 tons of water entered the ship.