 The ship was assigned to the 19th Destroyer Flotilla on the start of the war and spent the first six months on escort and patrol duties in the English Channel and North Sea . While assisting the damaged minesweeper <unk> on 4 February 1940 in the Moray Firth , Boreas 's stern was damaged and she required repairs that lasted until the following month . The ship was attached to the 12th Destroyer Flotilla on 29 March until she was damaged in a collision with her sister ship Brilliant on 15 May . Her repairs lasted until 19 June and Boreas was assigned to the 1st Destroyer Flotilla at Dover upon their completion . On 25 July , the ship engaged German E @-@ boats off Dover Harbour together with Brilliant and was badly damaged by German Junkers Ju 87 <unk> dive bombers after she was ordered to withdraw . Her bridge was hit twice by bombs that killed one officer and twenty crewmen . Boreas was under repair at <unk> Dock until 23 January 1941 ; she was lightly damaged by bomb splinters on 19 January . Around 1941 , she was fitted with a Type 286 short @-@ range surface search radar . 
