During World War II, Suffolk took part in the Norwegian Campaign in 1940 and then the Battle of the Denmark Strait in 1941, before serving in the Arctic throughout the following year.

[3][4] She returned home to Portsmouth in July 1935 laden with 100 cases of "priceless" Chinese artifacts for an exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts.

The operation had little effect and the retaliation from German bombers severely damaged the aft of the ship, forcing her to return to Scapa Flow.

During the battle the battlecruiser Hood was sunk with heavy loss of life and the battleship Prince of Wales was damaged and forced to retreat.

As Bismarck was losing oil, her captain Ernst Lindemann decided to attempt to reach Brest, France for repairs but was sighted by an RAF Catalina, damaged by torpedo bombers sent from the aircraft carrier Ark Royal[9] and eventually sunk after a punishing near 100-minute long bombardment from the battleships HMS King George V and HMS Rodney which were supported by the heavy cruisers Norfolk and Dorsetshire.

[10] After her repairs Suffolk served with the Home Fleet in Arctic waters until the end of 1942, then underwent a refit between December 1942 and April 1943 when "X" turret was removed and replaced with additional AA guns.

With the post-war economic difficulties of Britain hitting hard in 1947–1948 the reserve fleet was quickly sold off, and Suffolk was decommissioned and allocated to BISCO on 25 March 1948.