At the beginning of World War II on 1 September 1939, the ship was initially deployed to blockade the Polish coast, but she was quickly transferred to the North Sea to lay defensive minefields.

Hans Lody was under repair for most of the Norwegian Campaign and was transferred to France in late 1940 where she participated in several engagements with British ships, crippling another destroyer.

The ship returned to Germany in late 1940 for a refit and was transferred to Norway in June 1941 as part of the preparations for Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union.

Hans Lody spent some time at the beginning of the campaign conducting anti-shipping patrols in Soviet waters, but these were generally fruitless.

Hans Lody participated in the German attack (Operation Zitronella) on the Norwegian island of Spitzbergen, well north of the Arctic Circle and then spent the next six months on convoy duties in southern Norway.

[2] When World War II began in September 1939, Hans Lody was initially deployed in the Baltic to operate against the Polish Navy and to enforce a blockade of Poland, but she was soon transferred to the German Bight where she joined her sisters in laying defensive minefields.

[10] While loading mines on 4 September, one exploded aboard Hans Lody, killing two crewmen and wounded six others, and slightly damaging the ship's stern.

[13] Bey, now using Hans Lody as his flagship, left port on the morning of 6 December with Z12 Erich Giese and Z11 Bernd von Arnim to lay a minefield off Cromer.

[18] In June Hans Lody was tasked to escort the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, as well as the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper, in Operation Juno, a planned attack on Harstad, Norway, to relieve pressure on the German garrison at Narvik.

The British opened fire at extreme range and were forced to disengage in the face of long-range torpedo volleys and attacks by Luftwaffe bombers without having hit any of the German ships.

On the night of 24–25 November, Hans Lody and the destroyers Z4 Richard Beitzen and Z20 Karl Galster sortied from Brest, bound for the Land's End area.

[18] She was one of the escorts for the battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen from Cape Arkona to Trondheim on 19–22 May as they sortied into the North Atlantic.

[18] The following month, Hans Lody escorted the heavy cruiser Lützow from Kiel to Norway as the latter ship attempted to break through the British blockade.

Several Bristol Beaufort aircraft spotted Lützow and her escorts en route and one managed to surprise the ships and torpedo the cruiser early on the morning of 13 June, forcing her to return to Germany for repairs.

The flotilla was now assigned to escort convoys between Tromsø and Kirkenes; during one of these missions, the submarine Trident sank two troop-carrying freighters, Bahia Laura and Donau II despite the destroyers.

Hans Lody was damaged when a valve was left open and flooded the starboard engine room in early June and required two weeks to be repaired.

She was one of four destroyers assigned to escort the battleship Tirpitz during Operation Rösselsprung (Knight's Move), an attack on the Russia-bound Convoy PQ 17.

The ships sailed from Trondheim on 2 July for the first stage of the operation, although three of the destroyers, including Hans Lody, assigned to Tirpitz's escort ran aground in the dark and heavy fog and were forced to return to port for repairs.

During sea trials on 15 February 1943, a fire broke out in an engine room; repairs were not completed until 22 April and the ship then returned to Norway.

While successful, the operation was primarily intended to boost the morale of the ships stationed in the Arctic when fuel shortages limited their activities and the Allies reestablished the bases five weeks later.

A month later, Hans Lody departed Copenhagen to load refugees at the Hela Peninsula in East Prussia; she had about 1,500 aboard when she returned on 7 May.

[25] The Royal Navy assumed control of her the following day and sailed her to Wilhelmshaven where she waited while the Allies decided on the disposition of the captured ships.