A warship is usually safer underway than trapped in harbour, but only if it can outrun the danger. Hermes should have escaped northwest as quickly as possible if her condition allowed it. If not, the crew could have offloaded ammunition, secured compartments, and evacuated before the air attack. Correct positioning in shallow harbour water might then have made damage or sinking easier to recover from than the carrier's loss in open water.
Notable Point · 50:21-51:41
Hermes needed either a clean escape or a secured harbour
If mechanical limits prevented Hermes from escaping northwest, the alternative was to unload ammunition, seal the ship, and accept repairable harbour damage instead of exposure at sea.