"Bismarck"s escape into the swirling mists of the Atlantic prompted orders which sent "Tuscaloosa" to sea immediately. Most of the crew on liberty at the time could not be rounded up in time, so the ship set out for the hunt with personnel "shanghaied" from and "Quincy" and a group of reserve ensigns who happened to be on board for a reserve cruise. However, before the cruiser reached waters where she hoped to find "Bismarck", British warships—directed under legally questionable circumstances by an American naval reserve ensign piloting a British PBY—succeeded in attacking "Bismarck" which had to be scuttled by her own crew after rudder jam and loss of her main guns.