two
o'clock in the morning
One by one , as they were reached by the flame , her guns exploded -- a loud and awful sound in the night above the Roads . We stood and watched that sea picture , and we watched in silence . We are seeing giant things , and ere this war is ended we shall see more . At two o'clock in the morning the fire reached her powder magazine . She blew up . A column like the Israelite 's Pillar shot to the zenith ; there came an earthquake sound , sullen and deep ; when all cleared there was only her hull upborne by the sand and still burning . It burned until the dawn , when it smouldered and went out . ''