destroyers refueled from the supply ship Dithmarschen. The plan was to attack the British base at Harstadt in the morning of 9 June, but shortly after midnight of 8 June the plan was changed: a reconnaissance plan reported that there are no ships in Harstadt and since the German ships also detected highly increased convoy radio transmissions, Marschall deduced that the British are evacuating Harstadt. Instead of raiding Harstadt, Marschall decided to operate against the evacuation convoy. While in search of the convoy, the German force first encountered the tanker Oil Pioneer at 06:45 on 8 June, which was escorted by the trawler HMT Juniper. Admiral Hipper sank Juniper with gunfire and Gneisenau sank Oil Pioneer. At 10:52, Admiral Hipper encountered and sank the empty troopship Orama. Despite launching their Ar 196 reconnaissance planes, the German ships failed to find the convoy, and at 13:00, Admiral Hipper and the four destroyers returned to Trondheim to cover and protect the German forces there, whilst the battleships refuel from the Dithmarschen and continue the operation. On 10 June, Admiral Hipper and Gneisenau left Trondheim with the four destroyers in a second attempt to attack evacuating convoys but they returned to Trondheim the next day, having failed to locate any British vessels. On 13 June, the ship's anti-aircraft gunners shot down an attacking British bomber. On 25 July, Admiral Hipper steamed out on a commerce raiding patrol in the area between Spitzbergen and Tromsø; the cruise lasted until 9 August. While on the patrol, Admiral Hipper encountered the Finnish freighter Ester Thorden, which was found to be carrying of gold. The ship was seized and sent to occupied Norway with a prize crew. Atlantic operations Admiral Hipper was ordered to leave the Norwegian theater on 5 August 1940 for an overhaul in Wilhelmshaven. This was completed on 9 September and with a new commanding officer, Wilhelm Meisel, the cruiser made ready to participate in Operation Sea Lion, the planned invasion of the United Kingdom. Admiral Hipper's role would have been a diversionary foray into the North Sea, Operation Herbstreise or "Autumn Journey", with the aim of luring the British Home Fleet away from the intended invasion routes in the English Channel. Following the postponement of that operation, on 24 September the ship left Wilhelmshaven on a mission break out into the Atlantic Ocean to raid merchant traffic. The engine oil feed system caught