Nigeria served in Home waters and off the Scandinavian coast for the early part of the war.
On 28 June 1941 Nigeria, in company with the destroyers Bedouin, Tartar and Jupiter intercepted the German weather ship Lauenburg in thick fog north-east of Jan Mayen Island.
The German ship was detected through the use of HF/DF.
The crew of Lauenburg abandoned ship after they were fired upon, allowing the British to board her.
Valuable codebooks and parts of the Enigma machine were found aboard and recovered.
This was one of the earliest captures of Enigma material of the war, and came a few weeks after the destroyer Bulldog had captured the first complete Enigma machine from the German submarine U-110 on 9 May 1941.

In July 1941, Nigeria became the flagship of Force K, commanded by Rear Admiral Philip Vian.
During this period, Force K made two expeditions to Spitsbergen (Norwegian territory), the first to ascertain the situation and the second, in September, to escort a troopship, Empress of Australia, with Canadian troops and a team of demolition experts (see Operation Gauntlet).
Their task was to evacuate Norwegian and Soviet personnel from the archipelago and destroy coalmines and fuel stocks that might be of use to the enemy.
Bear Island was also visited to destroy a German weather station.
The two cruisers of the task force, Nigeria and Aurora diverted to intercept a German convoy.
During this action, Nigeria sank the German training ship Bremse, but suffered serious damage to her bow, possibly having detonated a mine.
On return to Britain, she was sent to Newcastle for repairs.
Nigeria served in Home waters and off the Scandinavian coast for the early part of the war. On 28 June 1941 Nigeria, in company with the destroyers Bedouin, Tartar and Jupiter intercepted the German weather ship Lauenburg in thick fog north-east of Jan Mayen Island. The German ship was detected through the use of HF/DF. The crew of Lauenburg abandoned ship after they were fired upon, allowing the British to board her. Valuable codebooks and parts of the Enigma machine were found aboard and recovered. This was one of the earliest captures of Enigma material of the war, and came a few weeks after the destroyer Bulldog had captured the first complete Enigma machine from the German submarine U-110 on 9 May 1941.
In July 1941, Nigeria became the flagship of Force K, commanded by Rear Admiral Philip Vian. During this period, Force K made two expeditions to Spitsbergen (Norwegian territory), the first to ascertain the situation and the second, in September, to escort a troopship, Empress of Australia, with Canadian troops and a team of demolition experts (see Operation Gauntlet). Their task was to evacuate Norwegian and Soviet personnel from the archipelago and destroy coalmines and fuel stocks that might be of use to the enemy. Bear Island was also visited to destroy a German weather station. The two cruisers of the task force, Nigeria and Aurora diverted to intercept a German convoy. During this action, Nigeria sank the German training ship Bremse, but suffered serious damage to her bow, possibly having detonated a mine. On return to Britain, she was sent to Newcastle for repairs.
HMS Nigeria (60)