In April 1941, "Jackal" was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet. In May 1941 "Jackal" formed part of the escort for Operation Tiger, a convoy carrying tanks from Gibraltar to Alexandria, before being detached to shell Benghazi together with , "Kelvin", "Kashmir" and "Kipling" on the night of 10/11 May, with "Jackal" being near missed (at a distance of ) by a bomb that failed to explode on 11 May. On 20 May, Germany launched an airborne invasion of Crete, and "Jackal" sailed the next day for the region to intercept German attempts to carry out landings by sea. On 23 May, "Jackal", "Kelly", "Kelvin", "Kashmir" and "Kipling" were deployed to search for and attack German invasion forces, but were attacked by German dive bombers, with "Kelly" and "Kashmir" being sunk. "Jackal" evacuated troops from Heraklion and Sphakia on 28 and 31 May, with Allied forces on Crete surrendering on 1 July.