By this time, the German raiders had broken out into the Atlantic, so the British and French fleets formed hunter groups to track them down; the "Force de Raid" was split, with "Dunkerque" and "Strasbourg" operating individually as Force L and Force X, respectively. "Dunkerque", "Béarn", and three cruisers remained in Brest while "Strasbourg" and two French heavy cruisers joined the British aircraft carrier , based in Dakar. On 22 October, "Dunkeque" and two cruisers sortied with their destroyer screen to cover Convoy KJ 3 to Kingston, Jamaica, arriving back in Brest three days later. On 25 November, they again went to sea, joining the battlecruiser for a patrol to try to catch the German battleships and , which had just sunk the British armed merchant cruiser . While cruising off Iceland, "Dunkerque" ran into very heavy seas; her bow was repeatedly submerged by the large waves, and she had to slow to to avoid damage. The Germans had by this time returned to port, so the Anglo-French force returned to its ports.