She participated in the Norwegian Campaign in May 1940 and was assigned to convoy escort and anti-submarine patrols with the Western Approaches Command afterwards.

The ship was briefly assigned to Force H in 1941, but her anti-aircraft armament was deemed too weak and she rejoined Western Approaches Command.

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

[4][5] Havelock was completed without a director-control tower (DCT) so the three remaining 4.7-inch low-angle guns fired in local control using ranges provided by a rangefinder.

[1] She was fitted with an ASDIC set to detect submarines by reflections from sound waves beamed into the water.

[6] Havelock was fitted with a HF/DF radio direction finder before completion and she had her rear torpedo tubes replaced by a 12-pounder AA gun by October 1940.

The ship was laid down on 31 May 1938 and was purchased by the British on 5 September 1939 after the beginning of the Second World War and renamed HMS Havelock.

[8] Havelock was detached to Home Fleet during the Norwegian Campaign and supported the Allied landings on 12–13 May at Bjerkvik during the Battle of Narvik.

The ship returned to the Western Approaches command afterwards as her anti-aircraft capability was believed by Admiral James Somerville to be too weak for operations in the Mediterranean.

In mid-1943, the escort group was deployed to the Bay of Biscay to attack U-boats in cooperation with the Royal Air Force (RAF) as they left their bases on the French Atlantic coast.

[13] In early 1944, Havelock was transferred to the 14th Escort Group which was given the task of protecting the convoys supporting Operation Overlord, the impending invasion of Western Europe, in British coastal waters, captained by Earl H.

Havelock was under repair again in February–April 1945,[13] but they were completed by 30 April when the ship, together with her sister Hesperus, attacked the wreck of U-246 northwest of the island of Anglesey thinking that it was U-242 which had been spotted by a Short Sunderland flying boat earlier that day.