In response to the cruiser's signal, Detmers ordered that "Kormoran"s disguise be dropped, for the Dutch flag to be replaced by the "Kriegsmarine" ensign, and for the guns and torpedoes to open fire. Accounts disagree on which ship fired first, but agree that both opened fire almost simultaneously. The first shots from "Sydney", a full, eight-shell salvo from the main guns, were reported in most accounts to have passed over "Kormoran", although some of the Germans said that shells punched through the funnel and the wireless office at bridge level without exploding, and hit the water on the far side of the raider. One analysis claims that this was either a warning shot just over the superstructure, or an attempt to destroy the raider's bridge as a prelude to capture. With "Kormoran"s opening salvo (which consisted of two shells instead of four because the raider's two centreline guns were slower to decamouflage), the gunnery officer attempted to bracket the cruiser's bridge but failed to hit it, with the shells striking other parts of the ship or missing completely. Two torpedoes from "Kormoran"s starboard above-water tubes were launched simultaneously with the raider's attack, and the close proximity of the target allowed the use of the anti-aircraft and close defence guns to rake "Sydney"s flank, thus preventing the use of the cruiser's secondary weapons.