on 20 june, "eckoldt" sailed for bergen, norway, with "galster" and "schonemann" where they waited until 4 july for the latter's main feed pump to be repaired and for "beitzen" and "lody" to arrive. all five destroyers arrived at kirkenes on 10 july. they mounted their first anti-shipping patrol on 12 july, but did not spot anything until the following night. a small soviet convoy was spotted and two of its ships were sunk after expending four-fifths of their ammunition. as the german ships were returning to port, they were attacked by several aircraft, of which "eckoldt" claimed to have shot down one. a second patrol was made on 22 july, but only a single soviet ship was sunk while the german ships were not damaged by several aerial attacks. when the british aircraft carriers and attacked petsamo and kirkenes on 29 july, the destroyers were far to the east and could not catch the british ships before they left the area. the german destroyers made one final sortie into the kola inlet where they sank one small soviet patrol vessel. "eckoldt" was damaged by a single aircraft's bombs that straddled the ship and damaged her steering and starboard engine. this damage was temporarily repaired, but "eckoldt" was ordered to narvik for more thorough repairs. after they were completed, the ship remained in the arctic for convoy escort duties. she was accidentally rammed by a norwegian freighter in tromsø on 12 october and was given temporary repairs in the floating dock at trondheim on 22 october before she was sent to kiel for more permanent repairs where she arrived on 9 november.