When we arrived at our rendezvous with the flotilla, we were dismayed to find a number of merchant ships waiting to take advantage of the cleared channel. Their presence was liable to endanger the security of Exercise Rhine and, therefore, was extremely unwelcome. However, it gave the Swedish observers and their British friends the impression that our task force and the merchantmen were operating together. As has been said, they so stated in their reports. Consequently, in London the Admiralty put a lot of effort into puzzling over what the Germans could be intending to do with such a combination of ships and how they might counter whatever it was.When we left the minefield, the minesweepers were detached and the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen, still escorted by destroyers, steered a zigzag course at 17 knots to avoid submarines. The south coast of Norway came into view during a magnificent summer sunset. The outlines of the beautiful, austere landscape, with the black silhouettes of its mountains raised against the red glow of the sky, enabled me to forget for a moment all about the war.Following the line of the coast, we turned westward.
