On 15 December 1914, the Germans staged a raid with their battlecruisers against the British East Coast towns of Scarborough, Whitby and Hartlepool. Warned by the codebreakers of Room 40, the British ordered a force of battlecruisers and battleships, together with the light cruisers of the Harwich Force, to intercept the Germans. "Lark" fouled a bouy when leaving Harwich harbour, so did not sail with the Harwich Force. The British forces again failed to intercept the German raiders.