Operation Ironclad
In August she was involved in Operation Stab, a simulated attack on the Andaman Islands to distract the Japanese from US preparations to attack Guadalcanal. She covered the landings at Mahajanga and Tamatave during the Battle of Madagascar an Allied invasion, in September. Her surface radar was replaced in Durban in October and Captain Packer, her former Assistant Gunnery Officer at Jutland, took command in January 1943. The remainder of "Warspite"s cruise was uneventful. She underwent a short refit in Durban in April and returned to the UK in May 1943, having sailed approximately 160,000 miles since the war began.