The ship took part in the Battle of Cape Matapan in March and evacuated British and Australian troops from both Greece and Crete in April and May.

In June, Hasty participated in the Syria-Lebanon Campaign and was escorting convoys and the larger ships of the Mediterranean Fleet for the next year.

Hasty carried a maximum of 470 long tons (480 t) of fuel oil that gave her a range of 5,530 nautical miles (10,240 km; 6,360 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).

[6] Hasty escorted convoys between Port Said, Egypt and Gibraltar immediately after World War II began in September.

[7] Hasty was ordered to the UK in January 1940 to refit and captured the German blockade runner SS Morea in the North Atlantic on 12 February en route.

[8] Hasty and the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla were ordered to the Mediterranean on 16 May, and the ship escorted the French battleship Lorraine and three British cruisers as they bombarded Bardia during the night of 20/21 June.

On 9 July Hasty participated in the Battle of Calabria as an escort for the heavy ships of Force C and unsuccessfully engaged Italian destroyers and suffered no damage.

The commandos had defeated the small garrison in Operation Abstention, but the Italians were able to land troops on the island over the next several days and overwhelm the British forces.

[12] Hasty escorted the light cruisers HMS Orion and Dido as they intercepted a German convoy attempting to land troops on Crete during the night of 21/22 May.

[6] Hasty bombarded Vichy French positions in Lebanon on 4 July during the Syria-Lebanon Campaign,[13] and then spent most of the rest of the year escorting convoys to Tobruk.

[16] Hasty was torpedoed by the German E-Boat S-55 under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Horst Weber as she covered a large convoy to Malta during Operation Vigorous, killing 13 men.