The final major operation to feature Beauforts before they were moved to other theatres was an attack on the heavy cruiser "Prinz Eugen". A report reached Coastal Command on 16 May 1942 that this ship, escorted by two destroyers, was off Trondheim steaming south-west at high speed. A strike force was formed with 12 Beauforts of 42 Squadron, six Blenheims of 404 (RCAF) Squadron and four flak-suppression Beaufighters, two each from 235 Squadron and 248 Squadron. "Prinz Eugen" was sighted with four destroyers. The Beaufighters went first, raking the ships with cannon fire as the Blenheims made dummy torpedo runs. Some Bf 109s (more than likely from I./JG 5) appeared and the Blenheims attempted to fend them off as the Beauforts started their attack. Three Beauforts were shot down by defensive fire from the ships before they could launch their torpedoes and the nine torpedoes that were launched failed to hit the target. One Beaufort, already damaged by anti-aircraft fire, was then attacked by three Bf 109s: in spite of further heavy damage, the pilot made a successful crash-landing back at base. In the meantime, another strike force of 15 Beauforts from 86 Squadron was sent too far north by a reporting error. They too were attacked by Bf 109s: four Beauforts were shot down (in return the crews claimed to have shot down five fighters) and of the 11 Beauforts remaining, seven were forced to jettison their torpedoes.