Beatty began to move his battlecruisers and supporting forces south-eastwards and then east to cut the German ships off from their base and ordered "Engadine" to launch a seaplane to try to get more information about the size and location of the German forces. This was the first time in history that a carrier-based aeroplane was used for reconnaissance in naval combat. "Engadine"s aircraft did locate and report some German light cruisers just before 15:30 and came under anti-aircraft gunfire but attempts to relay reports from the aeroplane failed.