The Navy wanted to inspect each stage of Ostfriesland's damage before further bombing. Six 2,000-pound bombs were instead dropped between 12:18 and 12:31, against a limit of two. The bombers aimed at the water beside the ship. Mitchell later described successive underwater explosions lifting her eight to ten feet, a claim from his own account. The rapid attack prevented the intended sequence of inspections and left the effects of individual strikes harder to establish.
Chapter · 2:00:17-2:02:59
Ostfriesland and the lost damage data
Six heavy bombs fell in quick succession against a limit of two, interrupting the inspection sequence intended to measure Ostfriesland's accumulating damage.