During the fleet advance on 18–19 August, I Scouting Group was to bombard the coastal town of Sunderland in an attempt to draw out and destroy Beatty's battlecruisers. As "Moltke" was one of only two remaining German battlecruisers still in fighting condition in the Group ("Von der Tann" being the other), three dreadnoughts were assigned to the Group for the operation: , , and the newly commissioned . Admiral Scheer and the rest of the High Seas Fleet, with 15 dreadnoughts of its own, would trail behind and provide cover. The British were aware of the German plans and sortied the Grand Fleet to meet them. By 14:35, Scheer had been warned of the Grand Fleet's approach and, unwilling to engage the whole of the Grand Fleet just 11 weeks after the decidedly close call at Jutland, turned his forces around and retreated to German ports.