Initially used to board and take control of merchant vessels belonging to Occupied Europe and operating in Asian waters, Kanimbla led the raid to capture the Iranian port of Bandar Shahpur in August 1941, and was present during the covert Japanese midget submarine attack on Sydney Harbour in 1942.

[6][7][8][9] Om 5 September 1939, Kanimbla was requisitioned for military service, and underwent conversion to an armed merchant cruiser at Garden Island in Sydney.

[4] During 1940 and early 1941, Kanimbla was engaged in patrolling the coasts of Asia and boarding vessels of German or occupied Europe origin.

[5] On 24 August 1941, as part of the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran, HMS Kanimbla carried an amphibious force that captured the port of Bandar Shahpur.

[10] On the night of 31 May 1942, Kanimbla was one of several Allied vessels located in Sydney Harbour, during the covert attack by Japanese midget submarines .

[11] She arrived back in Sydney on 2 April 1943, was converted to a Landing Ship Infantry (LSI) and commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy as HMAS Kanimbla on 1 June 1943.

[13][14] Kanimbla paid off at Sydney on 25 March 1949 and was returned to her owners on 13 December 1950 after being converted back by the Cockatoo Docks & Engineering Company[12][15] with the ship subsequently bringing European migrants to Australia and later taking Australian tourists to Japan and other parts of Asia.