Battle of Kolombangara
"Achilles" sister ship, HMS "Leander", escorted the New Zealand Expeditionary Force to the Middle East in 1940, and was then deployed in the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean, where she was subjected to air and naval attack from Axis forces, conducted bombardments and escorted convoys, and sank the . After serving in the Mediterranean she returned to the Pacific in 1943, assisting in the destruction of the and being seriously damaged by torpedoes during the Battle of Kolombangara.