The ship anchored off the shoal with its onboard personnel gathered on the bow and the stern. The escort vessels, ,  and , stood by while HMAS Yarra's captain, Wilfred Harrington, carefully manoeuvered the bow of his ship alongside the flaming and severely-damaged liner's stern and rescued away 1804 survivors. , which had been in the vicinity, picked up 78 more, while the Wollongong saved the last two persons on the now-sinking ship, its master (captain) and chief-engineer.
The situation involved a ship anchored off a shoal with personnel gathered at both ends of the hull. The escort vessels stood by as HMAS Yarra's captain carefully maneuvered his ship to rescue survivors from a severely-damaged liner, ultimately saving 1804 people.