extensive repairs and hull stiffening. It was almost a year before the ship was ready for action again. Her next major deployment was with other Tribal-class destroyers in Operation Archery in the Lofoten Islands in Norway in December 1941. They cleared out the Germans in Vågsøy and used the islands as a base from which they attacked German shipping. Shore targets were hit and small German boats were damaged but the operation was abandoned on 28 December after German air attacks on the island's harbour increased. After the raid, Hitler was convinced that the British were preparing an invasion of Norway, and diverted many precious resources there in preparation for an attack. The Tribal-class vessels were still together and after escorting Arctic convoys to Murmansk, they were sent to be part of a huge relief effort to Malta. They were then sent back to the Arctic to escort more Russian convoys. She, along with the other Tribal-class destroyers, were later re-equipped for this role, with insulation around vital areas to prevent cold weather damage. Ashanti was an escort for the Arctic convoy PQ 18 to the Soviet Union which was attacked by numerous U-boats and German aircraft. Forty-two Luftwaffe Heinkel He 111 torpedo bombers and thirty-five Junkers Ju 88 dive bombers simultaneously attacked the convoy, swamping the defenders. U-boats began shadowing the convoy and some were sunk; was sunk by the destroyer , by and by and aircraft from the escort carrier . Eight ships were sunk on 12 September, on 13 September, the Germans lost five Heinkels to Hurricane fighters. The tanker was another casualty, being torpedoed on 14 September and abandoned. Later attacks were beaten off at the cost to the Germans of a further twenty aircraft shot down. Two more merchantmen were sunk by air attack in Murmansk harbour. In total, thirteen merchant ships were lost from the convoy. The return convoy QP-14 was not spared German attack either, it came under attack by . Ashanti and worked together in hunting the U-boat, an operation which was hindered by lack of fuel. Somali, just after replacing Ashantis position, was torpedoed by the submarine and severely damaged. Most of her crew were evacuated but of the eighty who stayed aboard to save the ship, most were lost when it eventually sank. Five other ships were sunk in the same day, four by , including the minesweeper . Her