On 27 February 1942, at approximately 4pm, the Japanese and the allied squadrons spotted each other. Karel Doorman realised that the Dutch fleet was outnumbered but nonetheless proceeded to attack. His actions lost the fleet and he ultimately went down with his ship. The guns of the two Japanese cruisers had a greater range than the Allied guns and at about 5pm the British cruiser was hit. Twenty minutes, later the Dutch destroyer was torpedoed exploding and breaking into two. Confusion arose in the Allied squadron over the way forward, compounded because HMS "Exeter" could only sail at half power and wanted to return to port at Soerabaja (now Surabaya).