On the morning of 2 September "Wilk" attempted an attack on the German destroyer Z15 Erich Steinbrinck, but was forced to withdraw after being attacked by supporting vessels. Later that day "Sep" launched a single torpedo at the German destroyer Z14 Friedrich Ihn from 400 yards out. The torpedo missed and the destroyer dropped depth charges, severely damaging the submarine. The next day the German submarine U-14 (1935) launched a torpedo at "Sep", but it exploded prematurely. On 4 September "Orzel"'s captain, Lieutenant Commander Henryk Kłoczkowski, deemed it impossible to continue with the operation in his sector, and decided to withdraw into the Baltic Sea. The submarine was attacked by the German minesweepers "M3" and "M4". One depth charge exploded just above "Orzel", knocking out all lights and sending it crashing into the sea bed. The submarine escaped that night under the cover of darkness. Faced with an oil leak, Kłoczkowski chose to seek refuge in Tallinn, Estonia. The next day "Wilk" attempted to lay mines off of Hel, but was forced to abort in the face of an attack by German vessels. After this, its captain, Lieutenant Commander Krawczyk decided to withdraw northward. On 7 September the German submarine U-22 made a failed torpedo attack on the "Żbik".