Brilliant and Sirius used naval gunfire to help stop the German advance along the Belgian coast, and return fire killed one sailor and wounded several others. The sinking of the torpedo gunboat Niger by U-12 then persuaded Admiral Horace Hood that Dover exposed the old cruisers to unnecessary submarine risk. Reassigned as a guardship, Brilliant fired her light guns at Zeppelin L10 during its Tyne raid, showing an elderly surface combatant being improvised for a new aerial threat. She later served as a depot ship for auxiliary patrol vessels, another support role that extracted value from a hull no longer suited to the most exposed station.
Notable Point · 48:48-50:48
Brilliant fights ashore and adapts to the airship threat
Brilliant shelled German troops on the Belgian coast, withdrew from Dover after a submarine loss, and later fired on Zeppelin L10 as a Tyne guardship.