None of the decisive heavy bombs was officially recorded as a direct hit. At least three landed close enough to tear hull plates and increase flooding. Ostfriesland sank at 12:40, twenty-two minutes after the first heavy bomb. The wreck subsequently showed limited topside damage, with the sinking attributed to progressive flooding. Damage control might have stemmed that flooding, but the missing sequence of assessments prevented a firm conclusion about whether it could have succeeded.
Notable Point · 2:03:07-2:06:37
Near misses and progressive flooding sink Ostfriesland
Near misses tore hull plating and produced progressive flooding, but the rushed sinking prevented engineers from determining which leaks a crew could have contained.