In late 1940, "Revenge" and "Royal Sovereign" returned to convoy escort duties in the North Atlantic, and "Ramillies" joined them in January 1941 after completing a refit. During this period, "Ramillies" discouraged the two German s from attacking a convoy she escorted. "Revenge" and "Ramillies" were at sea during Operation Rheinübung, the sortie of the German battleship in May and they joined the hunt for the ship, but did not locate her. "Resolution" spent much of 1941 under repair, first in Freetown, South Africa and then the United States. Late in the year, the Admiralty decided to deploy the four "Revenge"-class ships to the Far East as the 3rd Battle Squadron in anticipation of war with Japan. They arrived in early 1942, by which time the Japanese had already declared war and inflicted a string of defeats on the Allied countries in the region. The ships fled in advance of the Japanese Indian Ocean raid, as they were no match for the aircraft carriers of the powerful 1st Air Fleet. The battleships thereafter primarily operated off the coast of Africa, escorting troop convoys. "Ramillies" was present during the Battle of Madagascar in May, where she was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. She was repaired first in Durban, South Africa, and then Devonport.