The ship screened an aircraft carrier during the Battle of Madagascar later that year and was assigned to convoy escort duties for the rest of 1942 and early 1943.

The turbines developed a total of 36,000 shaft horsepower (27,000 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 35.5 knots (65.7 km/h; 40.9 mph).

[3] She carried a maximum of 470 long tons (480 t) of fuel oil that gave her a range of 6,350 nautical miles (11,760 km; 7,310 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).

[6] Fortune, the 23rd ship of that name in the Royal Navy,[7] was laid down by John Brown & Company at their Clydebank shipyard on 27 July 1933.

The following day, Fortune and three of her sister ships sank the German submarine U-27 and then resumed their normal escort duties.

[12] During the Norwegian Campaign, Fortune played a minor role escorting the oiler RFA War Pindari to Namsos on 15 April.

[14] A few days later the ship escorted the aircraft carriers Ark Royal and Glorious and the battleship Valiant off the coast of Norway.

[16] During Operation Hats, the ship escorted Force H while the carriers Argus and Ark Royal flew off fighter aircraft for Malta and conducted an airstrike on Cagliari on 2 August.

Ten days later, they attacked Dakar where Fortune sank the French submarine Ajax on the 24th, rescuing 76 of the crew.

[18] In November, the ship escorted the carriers during Operations Coat and White as they flew off fighters for Malta and attacked the airfield at Elmas, Sardinia.

During the former operation, Fortune was detached and escorted Force F to Malta, streaming her TSDS gear at the head of the convoy to serve as a fast minesweeper.

[20] Three months later, Fortune and four other destroyers escorted the light cruiser HMS Sheffield, the battlecruiser Renown, and Ark Royal in Operation Winch, which delivered a dozen Hurricane fighters to Malta.

This was part of Operation Tiger which included a supply convoy taking tanks to the Middle East and the transfer of warships.

The shockwave ruptured the hull, knocked out her engines, slightly bent her propeller shafts, and caused a lot of flooding.

Her crew jettisoned nearly 18,000 pounds (8,200 kg) of topweight and she was able to reach a speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) en route to Gibraltar for temporary repairs.

[22] Although she returned to Gibraltar that same month, the ship did not become fully operational and mechanical problems restricted her to local duties until February 1942.

She made four voyages between St John's and Quebec City before being declared surplus on 23 September, although the ship was not paid off until 28 January 1946 at Sydney, Nova Scotia.