Victory, pp. 258–9 After completing the turn, battle damage caused Kormorans engines to fail completely, leaving the raider dead in the water while Sydney continued to sail southwards at low speed. Kormoran maintained a high rate of fire despite being immobilised—some sailors claimed that up to 450 shells were used during the second phase of the battle—and scored hits on the cruiser, although many shells missed as the range increased. The raider fired her guns for the last time around 17:50, with the range at , and a torpedo was launched at 18:00 but missed Sydney. Conclusion By the end of the 30-minute battle, the ships were about apart. Both were heavily damaged and on fire.Olson, Bitter Victory, p. 237Sydney was proceeding on a south-southeast bearing, apparently not under control. The Australian warship quickly disappeared from German sight, although the glow of the burning ship consistently lit the horizon until 22:00, with some German survivors stating that the light was visible consistently or occasionally until midnight. Sydney sank during the night; it was originally thought that the cruiser exploded when fires reached the shell magazines or torpedo launchers, or took on water through the shell holes on her port side and capsized.Olson, Bitter Victory, pp. 300–3 However, after the wrecks were located, it was determined that Sydney was under limited control after the battle, maintaining a course of 130–140 degrees true at speeds of . The ship remained afloat for up to four hours before the bow tore off and dropped almost vertically under the weight of the anchors and chains. The rest of the ship sank shortly afterwards and glided upright for underwater until it hit the seabed stern-first.Kormoran was stationary, and at 18:25, Detmers ordered the ship to be abandoned, as damage to the raider's engine room had knocked out the fire-fighting systems, and there was no way to control or contain the oil fire before it reached the magazines or the mine hold.Olson, Bitter Victory, p. 263 All boats and life rafts were launched by 21:00, and all but one filled. A skeleton crew manned the weapons while the officers prepared to scuttle the ship. Kormoran was abandoned at midnight; the ship sank slowly until the mine hold exploded 30 minutes later. The German survivors were in five boats and two rafts: one cutter carrying 46 men, two damaged steel life rafts with 57 and 62 aboard