"Admiral Scheer" sailed in October 1940 on her first combat sortie. On the night of 31 October she slipped through the Denmark Strait and broke into the open Atlantic. Her "B-Dienst" radio intercept equipment identified the convoy HX 84, sailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia. "Admiral Scheer"s Arado seaplanes located the convoy on 5 November 1940, The armed merchant cruiser , the sole escort for the convoy, issued a report of the German raider and attempted to prevent her from attacking the convoy, which was ordered to scatter under cover of a smoke screen. "Admiral Scheer"s first salvo scored hits on "Jervis Bay", disabling her wireless equipment and steering gear. Shells from her second salvo struck the bridge and killed her commander, Edward Fegen VC. "Admiral Scheer" sank "Jervis Bay" within 22 minutes, but the engagement delayed the German ship long enough for most of the convoy to escape. "Admiral Scheer" sank only five of the convoy's 37 ships, though a sixth was sunk by the Luftwaffe following the convoy's dispersal.