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10.30am. Rear Admiral von Reuter addressed an attendant signaler and shortly afterwards a string of command flags appeared over his ship - even although this was well outwith the permitted times for issuing signals. The order read ‘PARAGRAPH 11. BESTÄTIGEN (Paragraph eleven. Confirm.)’ The prearranged coded order to the commanders of the other ships in the Fleet to scuttle had just been given.

The details of the plan to scuttle the Fleet had been finalised four days earlier on 17 June with a view to avoiding the Allies seizing the powerful warships. (Unbeknown to Reuter the Allies had formulated just such a plan months before, as part of their contingency planning.)

The signal to scuttle was passed from ship to ship by semaphore and by Morse code on signal lamps and travelled slowly around the Fleet. The southernmost ships of the long lines of destroyers were not visible from the Emden. They had to wait for a full hour until the order reached them.

The prearranged formal responses came back, slowly to begin with. The first signal reached Emden at about 11.30am, just as the original signal reached the last of the destroyers: ‘Paragraph eleven is confirmed.’