"steinbrinck" only briefly operated in northern norway where she participated in operation wunderland in august, where she and her sisters "eckoldt" and "beitzen" escorted the pocket battleship at the beginning and end of its mission to attack soviet shipping in the kara sea. they also escorted the minelayer as it departed to lay a minefield off cape zhelaniya in mid-august. "steinbrinck" ran aground at the beginning of september and was sent home after temporary repairs were made at trondheim. the ship returned to norway in january 1943 where she was slightly damaged by a practice torpedo fired by the submarine . in early march she escorted "scharnhorst" through the skaggerak to trondheim in heavy weather that washed two men overboard. by mid-month, "steinbrinck" was the flagship of captain ("kapitän zur see"), commander of the 5th destroyer flotilla.