a German aircraft off the coast of Norway. She was later met by the cruiser and eventually found Rubis near the Skagerrak and escorted her into Dundee for repairs. Operation Halberd Lightning and Laforey left Greenock for the first major Malta convoy of the war on 17 September 1941, crossing the Clyde Boom at 0530. Lightning joined the convoy with many of the capital ships from the Home Fleet. These included , , , , , , Cossack, Fury, and . She then passed through the Straits of Gibraltar and met up with Force H. Throughout the operation Lightning would see some of her heaviest fighting. She and the rest of the convoy were attacked by German bombers who used a mixture of high altitude bombing, dive bombing and low level torpedo bombing. At 1340 on 27 September 1941 Lightning was very nearly hit. A torpedo from an aircraft missed the ship by . On 25 October Lightning left the Clyde and was transferred from the Home Fleet, based at Scapa Flow, to Force H based at Gibraltar. During November and December 1941, as part of Force H, Lightning had a mainly escort role. Escorting convoys that were from the UK, picking them up in the Bay of Biscay and often taking them through the western part of the Mediterranean Sea towards Malta. She also escorted aircraft carriers carrying Supermarine Spitfires. Lightning was one of the escorts of the aircraft carrier when she was sunk by a torpedo on 13 November 1941. On 11 December 1941, Lightning, and were ordered to leave Gibraltar and rendezvous with the battleship , in mid Atlantic, and escort her to America. Duke of York was carrying Winston Churchill, and Chiefs of Staff to the Arcadia conference in Washington. Commander Stewart was taken ill just before sailing and First Lieutenant Bromley took command. Bad Atlantic weather delayed the rendezvous, at 1830 on 17 December in approximate position 38-30N, 23W joined Duke of York with Highlander and Harvester. With the bad weather continuing, the destroyers remained with Duke of York until 20 December then at 1800 in approximate position 35N, 40W, detached again to Ponta Delgada, Azores to refuel. Continuing to Bermuda where Lightning shared an anchorage with the US Navy aircraft carrier , they arrived at Newport News on New Year's Eve. Afterwards, they returned to the UK, pausing at St. John's, Newfoundland, departing 16