'Nord' (iii) was the German first attempt to sail the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper into the North Atlantic on a commerce-raiding operation (24/30 September 1940).

The ship departed Kiel on 4 September, but on 27 September, at a point to the west of Stavanger in German-occupied Norway, the engine oil feed system caught fire and severe damage was caused. The ship’s propulsion system had to be closed down until the crew was able to bring the fire under control, and as a result Admiral Hipper lay motionless for several hours on the open sea. British reconnaissance failed to locate the ship, however, and after the fire had been extinguished, on 30 September the ship returned to the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg, where she had been built, and repairs were effected in slightly more than a week.

Thus it was at a time late in November that Admiral Hipper was belatedly able to make her first raiding voyage into the Atlantic in 'Nordseetour'.