 On 3 July she took part in the attack on the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kébir (Operation Catapult). A month later the ship escorted Force H during Operation Hurry, a mission to fly off fighter aircraft for Malta and conduct an airstrike on Cagliari on 2 August. Two days later, while returning to the UK, Fearless collided with the trawler Flying Wing and was repaired at the Barclay Curle shipyard in Scotstoun between 10 August and 11 October. On 30 October she was involved in another collision with SS Lanark at Greenock that fractured her stern. More repairs followed at Troon, and Fearless did not rejoin Force H at Gibraltar until 18 January 1941.
