On 25 March 1942, Wilcox became commander of Task Force 39, consisting of "Washington", the aircraft carrier , the heavy cruisers and , and eight destroyers. The task force had orders to join the British Home Fleet at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands and thereafter assist the Home Fleet in covering Arctic convoys bound for the Soviet Union. With Wilcox aboard "Washington", the task force departed Casco Bay, Maine, on 26 March 1942, bound for Scapa Flow.