Disregarding Lindemann's recommendation to return to Bergen, Lütjens ordered "Bismarck" to head for the French port of Saint-Nazaire. Although the French coast was further away than Bergen, Saint-Nazaire held the potential of longer nights and wider seas in which to shake off "Bismarck"s shadowers, plus the possibility of luring them across a line of U-boats. It would leave "Bismarck" poised on the edge of the British trade routes once the damage were repaired; it also meant the potential support of the battleships and . Both ships had been stationed at Brest in France, since the end of Operation Berlin earlier that year but had been kept in port for repairs and overhaul. While Brest was closer than Saint-Nazaire, it was within range of Royal Air Force bombers.