 Richard Beitzen took part in the preliminaries of Operation Rösselsprung , an attempt to intercept Arctic convoy PQ @-@ 17 in July . Admiral Scheer and Lützow formed one group while Tirpitz and Admiral Hipper composed another . While en route to the rendezvous point at the Altafjord , Lützow and three destroyers ran aground , forcing the entire group to abandon the operation . Richard Beitzen , in the meantime escorted two oil tankers to the Altafjord on 2 – 3 July . During Operation Wunderland in August , Richard Beitzen , Z16 Friedrich Eckoldt and Z15 Erich Steinbrinck escorted Admiral Scheer at the beginning and end of its mission to attack Soviet shipping in the Kara Sea . They also escorted the minelayer Ulm as it departed to lay a minefield off Cape Zhelaniya in mid @-@ August . On 13 – 15 October , Beitzen , Z16 Friedrich Eckoldt , and the destroyers Z27 and Z30 laid a minefield off the Kanin Peninsula at the mouth of the White Sea that sank the Soviet icebreaker Mikoyan . Three weeks later , the same four destroyers escorted Admiral Hipper as she attempted to intercept Allied merchant ships proceeding independently to Soviet ports in early November . 
