During the run to the south, Beatty turned four points to port between 16:12 and 16:15 to close the range, exposing Lion. Damage to Lion caused German ships to lose sight of the flagship and shift their fire to Queen Mary, second in line. Queen Mary hit Seydlitz and knocked out secondary armament, but German shells struck her in return and disabled the right gun of Q turret. Beatty ordered the range opened at about 14,000 yards, yet Derfflinger was already bearing on Queen Mary and a forward hit detonated one or both forward magazines. A surviving midshipman's account describes Q turret being rocked, its guns breaking or coming off their mountings, and cordite catching fire before Tiger turned hard to avoid the wreckage. Eighteen survivors were recovered by the Royal Navy and two by the Germans, while 1,266 men were lost.
Chapter · 46:25-50:10
Queen Mary's loss at the Battle of Jutland
Beatty's range changes shifted concentrated German fire from Lion onto Queen Mary, whose forward magazines detonated after hits from Seydlitz and Derfflinger.