Captain Fox tried to avoid the reported mine position by seven nautical miles, but the mines lay on the opposite side of Konigin Luise's track. At 06:35 a mine exploded beneath Amphion's bridge, setting the forecastle on fire and breaking the keel. The destroyer Linnet attempted a tow, but cracking in the upper deck and severe hogging showed that the cruiser was coming apart under structural stress. Hogging is the reverse of sagging: the damaged hull arches upward rather than bending down in the middle. Amphion's forward magazine then exploded, throwing a four-inch gun into the air and sending a shell onto the destroyer Lark, where it killed two sailors and a rescued German prisoner. Amphion sank soon afterward with one officer and 131 ratings killed; an uncertain number of the other rescued German prisoners also died.
Chapter · 23:16-26:27
Konigin Luise's minefield destroys HMS Amphion
A navigation error took Amphion into the minelayer's actual field, where an explosion broke her keel, caused severe hogging, and triggered a fatal magazine detonation.