In addition to escorting the perilous Arctic convoys during 1943-44, Virago participated with other British destroyers in the Battle of North Cape on December 26, 1943, where her torpedoes sank the badly beaten Scharnhorst, following a fierce fight between the battleship and HMS Duke of York. During the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944 she fired on German positions behind Lion Sur Mer on Sword beach, and late gave cover fire for troops advancing inland. Throughout her wartime commission, Virago was under the command of Lt. Cdr. Archibald John Ramsay White (1910-1991).