During the exchanges and distress signal, "Sydney" positioned herself just off the raider's starboard beam on a parallel course, approximately from "Kormoran". The cruiser may or may not have been at action stations: the main guns and port torpedo launcher were trained on "Kormoran" and her Walrus scout plane had been readied for launch, prompting Detmers to prepare to engage "Sydney", but her guns were unmanned, and personnel were standing on the upper deck. During her manoeuvre, "Sydney" appeared to signal "IK" (the short-form for "You should prepare for a cyclone, hurricane, or typhoon"), which "Kormoran" did not respond to, as from their perspective, such a signal did not make sense. The Germans were unaware that the letters were the interior of the real "Straat Malakka"s secret callsign, "IIKP": to verify her identity, the ship had to signal back the outer letters. The aircraft was shut down by 17:25, and the catapult swung into the storage position; the two ships were too close for a safe launch.