Admiral Graf Spee took Clement's captain and chief engineer prisoner but left the rest of her crew to abandon ship in the lifeboats.[15] The cruiser then fired 30 rounds from her 28 cm and 15 cm guns and two torpedoes at the cargo ship, which broke up and sank.[16] Langsdorff ordered a distress signal sent to the naval station in Pernambuco to ensure the rescue of the ship's crew.