After this, she sailed to Simonstown, South Africa, spending between January and February undergoing a refit. She then escorted convoys along the African coast, bound for the Middle East. In July, she was tasked, along with her sister, , with hunting down the German commerce raider (known as Raider E to the Royal Navy). Whilst on patrol, she intercepted the Vichy French merchant "Poitiers", which had been carrying ammunition to the Ivory Coast. Rather than see their ship fall into enemy hands, the crew promptly opened its seacocks and set fire to its cargo. Later that month, she attacked Dakar, suffering damage from a French coastal battery. In December, "Cumberland" was again hunting for the merchant raider "Thor", but the search proved unsuccessful.