Vice Admiral Ralph Leatham, the commander of the East Indies Station, deployed the carrier Hermes and cruisers Capetown, Emerald, Hawkins, Shropshire, and the Australian HMAS Canberra to join the hunt. Krancke turned to the south-east to evade his pursuers, reaching the South Atlantic by 3 March. The British, meanwhile, had abandoned the hunt on 25 February when it became clear that Admiral Scheer had withdrawn from the area.[28]