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At 9am on the 21 June, the British guard force of battleships and battlecruisers sailed out of the Flow on exercise with their supporting light cruisers and destroyers leaving only two serviceable destroyers on guard duty. The Armistice had been extended by two days to 23 June and they were under instructions to be back in Scapa Flow by then to deal with any trouble that might arise should the Armistice not be further extended.

At 10 am, von Reuter appeared in full dress uniform on the quarterdeck of his flagship, the light cruiser Emden. Reuter proudly bore the insignia of his highest decorations around his neck. The Iron Cross and his other medals were pinned to the breast of his frock coat. He studied his ships through a telescope and was advised by one of his staff that the British Fleet had left on exercise earlier that morning. He could hardly believe his luck.

Reuter issued an order that the international code flags “DG” be raised on Emden. This alerted officers on the other ships that they should watch for further orders.