A defective radar and incomplete report helped the raiders escape

An Ark Royal aircraft sighted the raiders northwest of Cape Finisterre, but defective radar prevented an immediate contact report and Lütjens turned north to mislead the observers. Later location information still left the ships too far away for a confident night attack by air groups whose veteran personnel had been drawn off to train new squadrons. Weather then frustrated another strike before German land-based air cover became effective. A Coastal Command Hudson reacquired the ships about 200 miles from France, but the contact came too late to prevent their torpedo-boat escort into Brest. The missed opportunity ties equipment reliability, report completeness, aircrew training, weather, and timing into one reconnaissance failure.