An Ark Royal aircraft found Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, but its radio failure forced it to return before reporting. The crew supplied only the raiders' last observed course rather than both first and last courses, and the carrier then delayed forwarding the information to Somerville. British ships, Wellington bombers, and carrier aircraft moved to intercept, but poor weather let the Germans reach land-based air cover and Brest. The escape resulted from a chain of technical, procedural, communications, and weather failures rather than a single missed sighting.
Chapter · 1:33:28-1:36:35
Ark Royal's delayed report helped the raiders escape
A failed aircraft radio, incomplete course information, transmission delay, and bad weather prevented Force H from converting a sighting into an interception.