A few things....

Ready to be destroyed and being able to after a massive attack that ends up killing 1400 of your 1700+ crew in 21 minutes are two different things.

Also in 1941 or 1942 an RN flagship would not even consider destroying there files. Would not even be thought of. Doing so would spell the end of the Career of the admiral who did so. Also the idea of a battleship being sunk by aircraft while underway was still foreign to the RN or any navy for that matter. Also the notion of a battleship going down that quickly without a major explosion or total destruction of the ship was also foreign.

Russ / Roller007