What could Kormoran's survivors actually see?

Wouldn't a different account of the battle have emerged from Kormoran's many survivors?

Individual sailors could know only what they could see from their stations. Numerous survivors would not necessarily provide a complete view of decisions or events elsewhere aboard.

A gun crew working behind protective structures might have little knowledge of events elsewhere in the ship. Having many survivors does not mean every survivor could independently reconstruct the whole action. Their stations limited what they could see, even if they reported it honestly. Exceptionally effective early hits and an even closer approach are raised as speculative possibilities.