She intercepted the Vichy French merchant ship SS Mitidja in July, then provided protection for an Allied convoy to Malta in Operation Pedestal the next month.

She then reconnoitred along the coast of Algeria in advance of Operation Torch, and was attacked by a French patrol ship, but sustained no damage.

The Italian torpedo boat Fortunale claimed to have sunk a submarine with depth charges on 12 December, south-east of Capri.

[5] Ordered on 4 April 1940 as part of the 1940 Naval Programme, P222 was laid down on 10 August by Vickers Armstrong at their shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness.

Her orders were changed on 23 July to intercept the Vichy French merchant ship SS Mitidja off Cape Palos, Spain.

[7] P222 departed Gibraltar on 2 August for a patrol in the Sicilian Channel, with additional orders to provide cover for Operation Pedestal, a British convoy to carry supplies to Malta.

[7] Though the boat did not encounter enemy forces, the convoy operation was a British strategic success, and P222 returned to Gibraltar on 22 August.

On 8 November, she was attacked by a Vichy French Élan-class sloop, which dropped several depth charges but caused no damage.

The Italian torpedo boat Fortunale claimed to have sunk a submarine with depth charges on 12 December, south-east of Capri.

[8] This last claim can be dismissed as signals to and from the submarine clearly show she was following a route that skirted the coast of southern Sardinia and thus could not have strayed in Tunisian waters.