On the night of 12/13 June 1941, 13 Beauforts of 42 Squadron, based at RAF Leuchars and a detachment of five Beauforts of 22 Squadron from Wick, were sent out to find the cruiser and an escort of four destroyers, which had been sighted near Norway.
In spite of its failure, this operation set the pattern for Coastal Command operations: Beaufighters were used for the first time for flak-suppression and escort and there had been diversionary tactics used to try to reduce attention on the attacking torpedo aircraft.