At 17:30 UTC on 4 or 6 November, the sea state caused "São Paulo" to pull sharply to starboard and fall into the trough (low point) between high waves. The action dragged the tugs astern and toward each other. To avoid a collision, "Dexterous" severed its wire and steered away, as had been previously agreed upon if such a scenario occurred. However, the battleship's weight fell so heavily and abruptly onto "Bustler"s towing winch that it could not take in the slack; the tow wire became fouled in the tug's propeller and parted. The now drifting "São Paulo"s port (red) navigation light was visible for several minutes before it disappeared. American B-17 Flying Fortress bombers and British planes were launched to scout the Atlantic for the missing ship. The ship was reported as found on 15 November, but this proved to be false. The search was ended on 10 December without finding "São Paulo" or its crew.