On 1 January 1941, "Hero" was one of the ships that intercepted a Vichy French convoy off Mellila and seized all four merchant ships of the convoy. The ship participated in Operation Excess in early January 1941 and was transferred back to the Mediterranean Fleet. On 27 February, she evacuated a few surviving commandos from the island of Kastelorizo who had attacked the island in Operation Abstention. In mid-April she escorted the fast transport and three battleships from Alexandria to Malta before going on to escort the battleships as they bombarded Tripoli on 20 April. After refueling in Alexandria on 23 April, "Hero" sailed for Greece to begin evacuating British and Australian troops from the beaches. During the evacuation of Crete, "Hero" and the destroyer evacuated the King of Greece and his entourage on the night of 22/23 May.