on the night of 12 april, commander erich bey, the senior surviving german officer, received word to expect an attack the following day by british capital ships escorted by a large number of destroyers and supported by carrier aircraft. the battleship and nine destroyers duly appeared on 13 april, although earlier than commander bey had expected, and caught the germans out of position. the five operable destroyers, including "bernd von arnim", charged out of narvik harbor and engaged the british ships. although no hits were scored, they did inflict splinter damage on several of the destroyers. the ship was able to make a torpedo attack on the british destroyers before being driven off, but her torpedoes all missed. lack of ammunition forced the german ships to retreat to the rombaksfjorden (the easternmost branch of the ofotfjord), east of narvik, where they might attempt to ambush pursuing british destroyers. "von arnim" had exhausted her ammunition and she was beached at the head of the fjord. her crew placed demolition charges and abandoned the ship. by the time the british reached the ship she had rolled over onto her side. the ship's crew joined the german troops ashore and participated in the campaign until the british evacuated the area in june.