After a major refit in April 1940, Montcalm served as flagship of the French Scandinavian Force supporting the Franco-British defence of Norway (replacing the damaged )[REF] and the evacuation of troops from Namsos, Norway, with , at the end of April 1940 [REF].
Apart from a deployment in April 1941 to recapture a French steamer, Fort de France,[REF] the next two years were relatively uneventful until the Allied landings in North Africa (Operation Torch) and the German occupation of Vichy France, when she joined the Allies, as did other French warships.