Simplify the following text for a Grade 12 native English-speaking person.
Original: Following the loss of the battleship in 1941 , with Allied air superiority threatening the remaining battlecruisers in French Atlantic harbors , the ships were ordered to make the Channel Dash back to German ports .
Simplified: Following the loss of Bismarck in 1941 , with Allied air superiority threatening the remaining battlecruisers in French Atlantic harbors , the ships were ordered to go back to German ports .