"ihn" was refitted after her arrival and remained in the baltic sea for the rest of the year. on 9 january 1943, together with two other destroyers, she escorted "scharnhorst" and "prinz eugen" as they attempted to return to norway from gotenhafen. the ships were spotted en route two days later by an aircraft from the royal air force and the attempt was abandoned as the element of surprise was lost. another attempt was made in march, although just with "scharnhorst", and "ihn" joined her escort off kristiansand, norway, on 7 march. heavy weather forced the destroyer to put into bergen, norway, although the battleship reached trondheim. "ihn" was transferred to narvik, norway at the end of april, although the shortage of fuel severely limited her activities in the arctic. she was ordered home to refit in november, a lengthy one that lasted until june 1944. she was then stationed at horten, norway for the rest of the year, where she was employed on convoy escort and minelaying duties, mainly in the skagerrak. the ship received a brief refit at swinemünde in november that augmented her anti-aircraft armament and returned to horten where she remained until may 1945. on 5 may, "ihn" sailed from denmark to hela where she loaded refugees that she ferried to copenhagen the following day. she immediately turned around and returned to hela for another load that she delivered to glücksburg, germany, on the 8th. she surrendered at flensburg by the next day.