At 01:45, the sinking battlecruiser "Lützow" – fatally damaged by "Invincible" during the main action – was torpedoed by the destroyer on orders of "Lützow"s Captain Viktor von Harder after the surviving crew of 1,150 transferred to destroyers that came alongside. At 02:15, the German torpedo boat suddenly had its bow blown off; "V2" and "V6" came alongside and took off the remaining crew, and the "V2" then sank the hulk. Since there was no enemy nearby, it was assumed that she had hit a mine or had been torpedoed by a submarine.