 Her three officers were taken back on board the vessel during the disarming as a way of guaranteeing that the ship would not be scuttled.The captain of "Externsteine" later told his captors that he thought the attack was being carried out by tanks, and he was amazed that the ships could break through the ice at the speed they did.He opined that the Americans would have to scuttle his ship as it was trapped in the ice.