 At 04: 50 on 25 April, the German battlecruisers were approaching Lowestoft when the light cruisers Rostock and Elbing, which had been covering the southern flank, spotted the light cruisers and destroyers of Commodore Tyrwhitt's Harwich Force. Boedicker refused to be distracted by the British ships, and instead trained his ships' guns on Lowestoft. At a range of approximately 14,000 yd (13,000 m), the German battlecruisers destroyed two 6 in (15 cm) shore batteries and inflicted other damage to the town, including the destruction of some 200 houses.
