On 24 May, before the final action, "Bismarck"s fuel tanks were damaged and several machinery compartments, including a boiler room, were flooded in the Battle of the Denmark Strait. Her captain's intention was to reach the port of Brest for repair. Late in the day "Bismarck" briefly turned on her pursuers ("Prince of Wales" and the heavy cruisers and ) to cover the escape of her companion, the heavy cruiser to continue further into the Atlantic. Early on 25 May the British forces lost contact with "Bismarck", which headed ESE towards France while the British searched NE, presuming she was returning to Norway. Later on 25 May Admiral Lütjens, apparently unaware that he had lost his pursuers, broke radio silence to send a coded message to Germany. This allowed the British to triangulate the approximate position of "Bismarck" and aircraft were dispatched to hunt for the German battleship. She was rediscovered in the late morning of 26 May by a Catalina flying boat from No. 209 Squadron RAF and subsequently shadowed by aircraft from Force H steaming north from Gibraltar.