By late December 1946, the ship was in very bad condition; on 21 December, she began to list severely. A salvage team could not be brought to Kwajalein in time, so the US Navy attempted to beach the ship to prevent her from sinking, but on 22 December, "Prinz Eugen" capsized and sank. Her main battery gun turrets fell out of their barbettes when the ship rolled over. The ship's stern, including her propeller assemblies, remains visible above the surface of the water. The US government denied salvage rights on the grounds that it did not want the contaminated steel entering the market. In August 1979, one of the ship's screw propellers was retrieved and placed in the Laboe Naval Memorial in Germany. The ship's bell is currently held at the National Museum of the United States Navy, while the bell from "Tegetthoff" is held in Graz, Austria.