When  attempted to tow the damaged ship to the beach, the strain broke her in two. She sank only minutes after the last survivors had been taken off. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 29 July.
The explosion broke her back, blasted a tremendous hole in her bottom, and tore away all bulkheads below the waterline causing immediate and irreversible flooding. Tides commanding officer — Lt. Cdr. Allard B. Heyward — died soon after the initial explosion, and Lt. Cdr.