[2] On the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were brought from France, where they were living, back to Britain on board HMS Kelly.

Kelly and the Tribal-class destroyer HMS Mohawk were dispatched as escorts for the rescue tugs Great Emperor, Joffre and Langton.

On the night 9 May/10 May 1940, during the Battle of Norway, Kelly was torpedoed amidships by the German E-boat S 31, under command of Oberleutnant zur See Hermann Opdenhoff (for which action Oblt.z.S.

Severely damaged, she was taken under tow by the tug Great Emperor and for four days she was attacked by E-boats and bombers as she struggled back to port at three knots.

The Navy Controller wrote that she survived "not only by the good seamanship of the officers and men but also on account of the excellent workmanship which ensured the watertightness of the other compartments.

In April 1941 she joined HM ships Abdiel, Dido, Jackal, Jersey, Kashmir, Kelvin and Kipling at Gibraltar to form Force S, an escort for reinforcements to the Mediterranean Fleet (Operation Salient).

On 8 May, following the loss of HMS Jersey to a mine and the subsequent clearance of her wreck, the flotilla left Malta and joined Ajax, Dido, Orion and Perth to escort supply convoys to Egypt and Greece (Operation Tiger).

The 1942 film In Which We Serve starring Noël Coward and John Mills and telling the story of "HMS Torrin", is based on the career of Kelly.