another minefield of 170 magnetic mines was laid by "ihn", "eckolt", and her sister "steinbrinck" on the night of 6/7 january 1940 off the thames estuary. the destroyer and six merchant ships totalling 21,617 grt were lost to this minefield as well and another ship was damaged as well. bonte led a destroyer minelaying sortie to the newcastle area on the night of 10/11 january with "ihn", "heidkamp", "eckoldt", "anton schmitt", "beitzen", and "karl galster". "ihn" had problems with her boilers that reduced her maximum speed to and she had to be escorted back to germany by "beitzen". this minefield only claimed one fishing trawler of 251 tons.