By 11 May 1941, repairs to "Prinz Eugen" had been completed. Under the command of "Kapitän zur See" (KzS—Captain at Sea) Helmuth Brinkmann, the ship steamed to Gotenhafen, where the crew readied her for her Atlantic sortie. On 18 May, "Prinz Eugen" rendezvoused with "Bismarck" off Cape Arkona. The two ships were escorted by three destroyers—, , and —and a flotilla of minesweepers. The Luftwaffe provided air cover during the voyage out of German waters. At around 13:00 on 20 May, the German flotilla encountered the Swedish cruiser ; the cruiser shadowed the Germans for two hours in the Kattegat. "Gotland" transmitted a report to naval headquarters, stating: "Two large ships, three destroyers, five escort vessels, and 10–12 aircraft passed Marstrand, course 205°/20'." The "Oberkommando der Marine" (OKM—Naval High Command) was not concerned about the security risk posed by "Gotland", though Lütjens believed operational security had been lost. The report eventually made its way to Captain Henry Denham, the British naval attaché to Sweden, who transmitted the information to the Admiralty.