Between 17:48 and 17:52, 11 German dreadnoughts, including "Rheinland", engaged and opened fire on the British 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron, though the range and poor visibility prevented effective fire, which was soon checked. Some ten minutes later "Rheinland" again opened fire on the British cruisers, targeting what was most likely , though without success. By 20:15, the German fleet had faced the deployed Grand Fleet for a second time and was forced to turn away; in doing so, the order of the German line was reversed, with "Rheinland" third from the front, behind "Westfalen" and "Nassau". At 21:22, crewmen aboard "Rheinland" and "Westfalen", the two leading ships in the German line, spotted two torpedo tracks that turned out to be imaginary. The ships were then forced to slow down in order to allow the battlecruisers of I Scouting Group to pass ahead. Around 22:00, "Rheinland" and "Westfalen" observed unidentified light forces in the gathering darkness. After flashing a challenge via searchlight that was ignored, the two ships turned away to starboard in order to evade any torpedoes that might have been fired. The rest of I Battle Squadron followed them.