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Whilst under tow, the fires continued to intensify and eventually in Loch na Beiste, a small bay about a mile south east of Kyleakin and well away from habitation, the burning vessel was let loose and cast adrift.

Shortly afterwards, there was a flash that lit up the night sky momentarily, followed by the loud bang of an explosion which resonated around the nearby hills of Skye. Part of the central superstructure was blown off the vessel several hundred feet in the air and all the way to the shores of Skye about 300 yards away. The superstructure landed on the beach, complete with one gun mounting and a bath. Some of the fragments ended halfway up the hill beyond - where they still sit among the trees today.

Surprisingly, despite the magnitude of the explosion, none of the mines detonated - although her midships area was badly mangled by the explosion.

Port Napier rapidly flooded with water and started to keel over onto her starboard side as she sank. The sea consumed her and she came to rest on her starboard side in about 20 metres of water – complete with her entire cargo of newly loaded mines. Port Napier’s beam was 68 feet, which meant that her port side showed above the water at most states of the tide.