"Campbell" was one of six destroyers that were ordered to reinforce Dover Command on 3 February 1942, in anticipation that the German battleships and and heavy cruiser would attempt to return from Brest in German-occupied France to Germany. On the night of 11/12 February, the German ships left Brest to pass through the British blockade, in what became known as the Channel Dash, but were undetected by the British owing to a combination of German jamming and British technical failures. The six destroyers ("Campbell", , , , and , under the command of Captain Captain C. T. M. Pizey aboard "Campbell") were exercising off Harwich when the Germans were finally detected, and were ordered to intercept the German fleet off the mouth of the River Scheldt, steering a course through a German minefield to allow the interception to take place. One destroyer, "Walpole" was forced to turn back due to mechanical trouble, but the remaining five destroyers reached the German force at 15:42 hr. They launched torpedoes at a range of , but none hit, while "Worcester" was heavily damaged by German shells. On 12 March 1942, "Campbell" collided with the destroyer , and was under repair at the Southampton shipyard of Thornycroft until 25 April that year. From 2 to 7 September 1942, "Campbell" formed part of the escort of the Arctic convoy PQ 18 on its initial leg from Loch Ewe to Iceland.