Her refit was completed in late January 1941, but she was trapped by thick ice so that she could not reach Gotenhafen to work up until mid-February. "Steinbrinck" returned to France in April where she was based at La Pallice. There she was primarily occupied with escorting returning commerce raiders, warships and supply ships through the Bay of Biscay to bases in France. These included the raider "Thor" on 22 April, the supply ship "Nordland", and the fleet oiler "Ermland" in late May. The heavy cruiser was escorted to Brest in early June after separating from the battleship during Operation Rheinübung. By the late summer, "Steinbrinck" was well overdue for a refit and was suffering from boiler problems but her refit was postponed to allow her to escort the raider "Orion" on 21 August. Her departure was delayed when she ran aground at the beginning of the next month and she did not depart for Germany until 6 September. Sometime in 1941, the destroyer received a FuMO 21 search radar that was mounted above her bridge.