The Spectator at war: Coastal retreats

From News of the Week, The Spectator, 19 December 1914:

A SMALL squadron of German cruisers made an attack on Hartlepool, Whitby, and Scarborough on Wednesday morning. It seems that the squadron consisted of at least three battle cruisers and two armoured cruisers. Hartlepool and Scarborough were shelled simultaneously for about half an hour shortly after eight o’clock. The bombardment of Whitby began at nine o’clock, and it is possible that one or more of the ships which took part in it had come from Scarborough, which is only fifteen miles distant. As soon as the presence of the German ships was reported a British patrolling squadron tried to cut them off. They then retired at full speed and succeeded in escaping in the mist. The losses on both sides in the naval engagement—our destroyers did their best, though without much result, to hold the enemy in check—are said to have been small, but the damage done on shore was far more serious.