Mixed boarding parties may explain conflicting cutlass accounts

Why do accounts of the Altmark boarding disagree about whether sailors carried cutlasses?

The mixed force likely included destroyer crew without swords and cruiser-derived reserve personnel who did carry them.

A source-based reconciliation allows for both accounts. Cossack's own crew may not have used cutlasses, while extra boarding personnel drafted from a sidelined cruiser included experienced reserve officers accustomed to carrying swords. Accounts mentioning cutlasses tend to cluster around those cruiser personnel. Each tradition may therefore preserve a different part of the same boarding force.