After the successful break out, Lütjens’ primary concern was to bunker fuel oil. At a certain point, about 100 miles south of Cape Farewell on the southern tip of Greenland, the tanker Schlettstadt waited. This point had the code name ‘Schwarz’ and Lütjens ordered his battleships to steer towards it. As Lütjens’ squadron passed through the Denmark Strait, it left the area of Marinegruppe Nord and moved into the area controlled by Marinegruppe West. Lütjens radioed a brief report to Marinegruppe West, in which he declared his intention to commence operations against British shipping after 10 February. He not only wanted to report that he had reached the Marinegruppe West area, but also to ensure that the Admiral Hipper did not begin operations against British convoys too early. It was important to maintain the element of surprise.63
While bunkering proceeded, Lütjens and his staff planned future operations. The Germans had a fairly accurate picture of how the British convoys sailed. Convoys from the United States assembled near Halifax in Canada. From there they proceeded along the coast of Newfoundland and then continued along a northerly arch towards Britain. The route was chosen as it roughly followed a so-called great circle, which is the shortest route from one point to another on the globe, as the distance between meridians is shorter closer to the poles. The Germans suspected that convoys from Britain to America, usually consisting of empty ships, followed a route further south.
Lütjens’ intelligence also told him that two British battleships, the Ramillies and Revenge, were based at Halifax. They were two of the oldest battleships in service with the Royal Navy, but they were armed with 38cm guns, more powerful than the 28cm guns constituting the main armament of the Gneisenau and Scharnhorst. The intention had been to arm the two German battleships with six 38cm guns, divided into three twin turrets. However, the gun was still not fully developed when the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were built. Instead, they had to put up with nine 28cm guns in triple turrets.