Birmingham was a unit of the 18th Cruiser Squadron of the Home Fleet, initially used to patrol off the coast of Norway to prevent German fishing vessels operating in this area.

From January until April 1941 Birmingham escorted troop convoys to the Middle East, around the Cape of Good Hope.

In May she returned to home waters, and was involved in the hunt for the German battleship Bismarck and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen.

Birmingham had already put to sea from Scapa Flow on a patrol of the Iceland-Faroes passage, and did not end up engaging the German ships.

In November Birmingham escorted a convoy to Mahajanga West Coast where the 10th Infantry Brigade was landed under air cover provided by the aircraft carrier Illustrious.

The torpedo struck the keel, in line with the 'B' turret and right under the seaman boys' mess deck, killing about seventy men in that compartment.

In May 1945, as the war drew to a close, a force consisting of the cruisers Birmingham, Dido and several destroyers was tasked with occupying ports in the Baltic.

During 1950 and 1952 Birmingham underwent a modernisation, receiving new bridgework, a lattice foremast and air conditioning rendering her suitable for service in the Far East.

In June 1952 as the Panmunjom (Korea) negotiations moved belatedly towards an armistice, Birmingham, along with the cruiser Newcastle and two frigates, supported American landing craft evacuating thousands of friendly Koreans from islands off the north-west coast.

During the same year she was in the Mediterranean, Birmingham also took part in the film Battle of the River Plate starring Anthony Quayle and Peter Finch.