On 4 August 1941
Oribi carried the British Prime Minister,
Winston Churchill, and senior officers from Scrabster to
Scapa Flow, where the group embarked on for passage to Newfoundland and the secret meeting with US President
Franklin D Roosevelt at which the
Atlantic Charter was signed.
Oribi was one of the destroyers that supported
Operation Archery, a commando raid on Norway in November 1941, by shelling the islands and attacking German shipping in the anchorage. She also assisted in bringing Norwegian nationals home after the raid to escape the German occupation. She saw extensive action during the
Arctic and
North Atlantic convoys of the
Second World War. These included
Convoy ONS 5 in May 1943, regarded as the turning point of the
Battle of the Atlantic. At 03:00 on 6 May 1943 was located by radar in thick fog, rammed by HMS
Oribi and disabled, she was unable to dive. At 03:54 the U-boat was sighted by the
Flower-class corvettes
Snowflake and , as
Snowflake manoeuvred to attack, closing to , the crew of
U-125, realising their indefensible position, scuttled the boat. The captain of
Snowflake signalled the Senior Officer Escort, Lieutenant Commander Robert Sherwood, proposing to pick them up and received the response, "Not approved to pick up survivors".
Snowflake and
Sunflower thereupon resumed their positions around the convoy, while the crew of
U-125 died in the Atlantic over the next few hours. ==Postwar service==