After the K-21 attack, the German ships continued on their original course for approximately five hours before turning back.
Notes on verification
Confirmed by Wikipedia and corroborated by an independent naval history site with a consistent timeline; minor variance in exact hours (4.5 vs 5) but within reasonable rounding.
Sources
- Attack on the battleship Tirpitz by submarine K-21 (en.wikipedia.org)
- https://www.kbismarck.com/tirpitz.html (kbismarck.com)
- https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Attack_on_the_battleship_Tirpitz_by_submarine_K-21 (military-history.fandom.com)