At around 17:45, "Sydney" fired two torpedoes from her starboard tubes (although some Germans reported more). Prior to the torpedo launch, Detmers had decided to destroy "Sydney" completely and ordered the raider to turn to port so four-gun salvoes could be fired: this manoeuvre caused the torpedoes to pass astern of "Kormoran". After completing the turn, battle damage caused "Kormoran"s engines to fail completely, leaving the raider dead in the water while "Sydney" continued to sail southwards at low speed. "Kormoran" maintained a high rate of fire despite being immobilised—some sailors claimed that up to 450 shells were used during the second phase of the battle—and scored hits on the cruiser, although many shells missed as the range increased. The raider fired her guns for the last time around 17:50, with the range at , and a torpedo was launched at 18:00, but missed "Sydney".