Arabis covers the minesweepers' withdrawal

When the German force appears, Lieutenant Commander Robert Raymond Hallowell-Carew recognizes that flight is the flotilla's only realistic option. The faster and more heavily armed German boats should be able to overtake every British sloop. The surviving accounts do not explain every manoeuvre, but Arabis appears to remain deliberately at the rear to cover Poppy, Buttercup, and Alyssum. She fights off an initial group of three attackers before a second group of six closes and sinks her with torpedoes. Hallowell-Carew's decision leaves Arabis under attack while the other three sloops escape. Fifty-six crew members are killed and fourteen, including Hallowell-Carew, are captured.