At 16:30, Scheer's leading battleships sighted the distant battlecruiser action; soon after, of Beatty's 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron led by Commodore William Goodenough sighted the main body of Scheer's High Seas Fleet, dodging numerous heavy-calibre salvos to report in detail the German strength: 16 dreadnoughts with six older battleships. This was the first news that Beatty and Jellicoe had that Scheer and his battle fleet were even at sea. Simultaneously, an all-out destroyer action raged in the space between the opposing battlecruiser forces, as British and German destroyers fought with each other and attempted to torpedo the larger enemy ships. Each side fired many torpedoes, but both battlecruiser forces turned away from the attacks and all escaped harm except "Seydlitz", which was hit forward at 16:57 by a torpedo fired by the British destroyer . Though taking on water, "Seydlitz" maintained speed. The destroyer , under the command of Captain Barry Bingham, led the British attacks. The British disabled the German torpedo boat , which the Germans soon abandoned and sank, and "Petard" then torpedoed and sank , her second score of the day. and rescued the crews of their sunken sister ships. But "Nestor" and another British destroyer – – were immobilised by shell hits, and were later sunk by Scheer's passing dreadnoughts. Bingham was rescued, and awarded the Victoria Cross for his leadership in the destroyer action.