In April 1940, MATABELE joined the Home Fleet destroyer screen in the North Sea. She moved up and down the fiords of Norway ferrying soldiers ashore at Namsos and screening transports out to sea during the daytime. While operating in Norway, she ran onto the Fasken Shoal but managed to get back to her home port safely. Repairs were substantial and the opportunity was taken to replace the 'X' mounting with a 4 inch AA gun. This work was completed at Falmouth, England by mid-August 1940. In April 1941, MATABELE underwent an extensive refit at Barrow-in-Furness, England. The refit was completed on the 27th May but the ship ran aground when leaving Barrow. The resulting repairs meant that she could not rejoin the Home Fleet until August 1941.

Due to the German invasion of Russia, MATABELE was immediately assigned to Russian convoy duty. On 8th January 1942, MATABELE and HMS SOMALI were ordered to join the escort of convoy PQ8. On 17th January, just off Kola Inlet, MATABELE was torpedoed and sank in two minutes. Even in that short time, many had managed to abandon ship only to be frozen to death in the icy waters.