in september the ship participated in operation zitronella, ferrying troops of the 349th grenadier regiment to destroy norwegian facilities on the island of spitzbergen, together with the battleships and "scharnhorst", escorted by eight other destroyers. after unloading her troops, she bombarded targets on the island until her fire main broke from the shock of shooting and partially flooded one of her compartments. while successful, the operation was primarily intended to boost the morale of the ships stationed in the arctic when fuel shortages limited their activities and the allies reestablished the bases five weeks later. "steinbrinck" and two other destroyers escorted the pocket battleship back to germany in september and returned to narvik. on 25 november she was ordered to return to germany for an overhaul, but accidentally collided with a small norwegian steamer en route later that night. the collision severely damaged her bow and she had to sail slowly to trondheim for emergency repairs lest the forward bulkhead collapse. the ship then received temporary repairs in oslo before departing for germany on 18 december.