The outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 saw the Africa Station being renamed the South Atlantic Station, with "Milford" transferring to her war station at Freetown, Sierra Leone. "Milford" was used to escort convoys between South Africa and Gibraltar, before undergoing another refit at Simonstown from January to March 1940. On 7 July 1940, "Milford", together with the aircraft carrier and the cruisers and , arrived off Dakar, Senegal, in order to force French Navy ships (especially the battleship ) to either join with the Royal Navy or be neutralised so they could not be seized by the Germans (a similar operation had resulted in the British attack on Mers-el-Kébir on 3 July). "Milford" attempted to enter Dakar harbour with an emissary to carry out negotiations, but the French refused entry. On the morning of 7/8 July a launch from "Hermes" sneaked past the French defences and dropped a number of depth charges under "Richelieu"s stern, then Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers from "Hermes" attacked "Richelieu", scoring one torpedo hit on the battleship, badly damaging the French ship. On 23 September 1940, "Milford" took part in Operation Menace, an unsuccessful attempt to seize Dakar by landing Free French forces with Royal Navy support.