laying minefields off the British coast. On 4–6 December, the ship conducted a mining operation off Kristiansand, Norway. On 13 December, while escorting a group of destroyers returning from a mine-laying operation off the British coast, the Royal Navy submarine launched a spread of torpedoes at the German flotilla. Two torpedo tracks were spotted heading toward Nürnberg, and the ship turned hard to port in an attempt to evade them. One passed harmlessly ahead of the ship, but the second struck her in the bow. Nürnberg reduced speed to to allow her crew to inspect the damage, when three more torpedo tracks were spotted to port. The ship immediately accelerated to full speed and turned to starboard; the torpedoes exploded in the cruiser's wake. The hit caused some minor flooding and minimal damage, but her watertight bulkheads held. The Germans spotted Salmon and briefly engaged her with Nürnbergs rearmost main battery turret, but to no effect. Nürnberg thereafter got underway at a speed of and made for port. While en route back to Germany on 14 December, Nürnberg and Leipzig, which had also been torpedoed by Salmon, came under further British attacks. The Royal Air Force (RAF) launched an attack against Nürnberg and Leipzig which had also been damaged by Salmon. Approximately 20 Vickers Wellington bombers from No. 99 Squadron were intercepted by fighters from II. Gruppe (2nd group) of Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing) under the leadership of Oberstleutnant Carl-Alfred Schumacher in the vicinity of Spiekeroog and Wangerooge. The RAF bombers failed to further damage the cruisers as JG 77 pilots claimed seven and one probable bomber shot down, including one claimed by Unteroffizier Herbert Kutscha. RAF records indicate that six bombers were lost in the attack. The submarine also unsuccessfully attacked the damaged cruiser that day, just before she entered the Kiel Canal at Brunsbüttel. After arriving in Kiel, Nürnberg went into drydock at Deutsche Werke for repairs, which lasted until April 1940. In early June 1940, Nürnbergs commander, Kapitän zur See (KzS) Otto Klüber, was informed that the ship would not participate in Operation Juno, a sortie by the battleships and . Instead, she was transferred to Norway, departing Kiel on 10 June under the escort of the torpedo boats and . On 12 June, the torpedo boats were sent to Stavanger for fuel, and in the meantime, Nürnberg steamed a zig-zag course at to evade