In August 1942, she conducted Operation Wunderland, a sortie into the Kara Sea to interdict Soviet shipping and attack targets of opportunity. The length of the mission and the distances involved precluded a destroyer escort for the operation; three destroyers would escort "Admiral Scheer" until they reached Novaya Zemlya, at which point they would return to Norway. Two U-boats — and — patrolled the Kara Gate and the Yugorsky Strait. The Germans originally intended to send "Admiral Scheer" with her sister ship "Lützow", but since the latter had run aground the previous month, she was unavailable for the operation.