Reuter prepares and orders the scuttling

By June 1919, Reuter had retained crews he considered reliable and issued instructions to scuttle if the Allies seized the ships without German consent. His Paragraph 11 order distinguished an unauthorized Allied seizure from a surrender accepted by the German government. On 21 June, flag, semaphore, and searchlight signals activated a rehearsed plan. Crews opened sea cocks and valves, damaged internal systems, loosened ports and doors, and even pierced bulkheads so flooding would spread rapidly.