and ordered the Dorsetshire and , which was also in Colombo, to join him with all speed. He left the choosing of a rendezvous point to the admiral commanding in Colombo. It took six long hours to reassemble the ships machinery and get her ready for sea. The two cruisers left Colombo harbour at 10 pm on 4 April. The rendezvous point was approved by Admiral Somerville. It was a fatal error as a more westerly rendezvous point would have saved the two ships. The ships could steam at only 28 knots, the top speed that Cornwall could make. At daybreak, Easter Sunday, 5 April 1942, Agar received a signal that the Japanese Fleet was only 120 miles south of Colombo. They began an attack on the port at 8 am. No further communication was received from Colombo (their radio tower was hit). At this point, lacking further direction, as Somerville was maintaining radio silence and Colombo was out of action, Agar made a fatal decision. He saw his first duty as rejoining the fleet in the hopes of launching a night attack on the Japanese and opted to continue on southwards to the rendezvous point instead of heading due west out of the danger zone. At 11:30 am a Japanese patrol aircraft spotted them. There were six hours of daylight left. Agar continued on to the rendezvous point. He broke radio silence to tell Somerville of his decision. The rendezvous point was 90 miles away. The two ships were caught by Japanese dive bombers at 1 pm and the Dorsetshire sank eight minutes after the first bomb hit. She went down at 13:50 after being struck by 10 bombs. A total of 234 men were killed and 500, including the Captain, survived in the water until rescue 32 hours later. Only 16 of the men who went into the water died, a testament to crew discipline and the leadership of Agar and the other officers and petty officers. The Cornwall was sunk as well. Agar worked hard to save his crew, picking up the wounded in a whaler, gathering up stragglers and giving good advice. He was reported by survivors as speaking calmly. A Fairey Swordfish found the men in the water the next afternoon and an hour later the light cruiser and the destroyers and arrived to rescue the survivors. Agar was taken aboard the Paladin. During the