Seeschlacht bei Punta Stilo
"Dainty" participated in the Battle of Calabria on 9 July as an escort for the heavy ships of Force C and unsuccessfully engaged Italian destroyers and suffered no damage. Together with her sisters "Defender" and , the Australian destroyer , and the light cruisers and , she escorted Convoy AN.2 from Egypt to various ports in the Aegean Sea in late July. On 29 August "Dainty", "Diamond" and the destroyers , escorted the Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker "Plumleaf" and two merchant ships, and , from Egypt to Malta with relief supplies. "Dainty" and "Ilex" escorted the Australian light cruiser as she bombarded the Italian airfield on Scarpanto on 4 September.