 During January 1941 , the ship laid a minefield off the coast of south @-@ east England . The following month , she escorted the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper on leaving and returning to Brest . Richard Beitzen departed for Kiel briefly on 16 March to begin a refit . She was then sent to Kirkenes , Norway in July 1941 . Now a part of the 6th Destroyer Flotilla ( 6 . Zerstörer @-@ Flottille ) , she participated in a sortie on 12 – 13 July that sank two small Soviet ships at the cost of expending 80 % of their ammunition . Another sortie on 22 July saw Richard Beitzen sink a Soviet flying boat on the water . She was damaged by shock from near @-@ misses during another sortie on 9 August during which the Germans sank a converted fishing trawler and departed for Germany for repairs five days later . 
