The first mention of the ship is at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, as a Royal Naval Air Station.

It had a satellite unit, known originally as HMS Asbury, which acted as shore based transit accommodation of the Royal Navy located just outside New York City.

[2] It was used by crews picking up ships allocated to the Royal Navy under the provisions of Lend-Lease and by crews sent to collect ships that had been undergoing long term repair, refitting or construction at United States dockyards, and was also used as a base for 'unattached' personnel.

[1] The Chaplain of Saker in 1945 was K. Boulton Jones, who performed an all-British memorial ceremony for President Roosevelt at St Mark's Church, Adelaide, Brooklyn, on 15 April of that year.

[1] In December 1946, it was combined with the British Admiralty Delegation to the US, and was moved to Washington, D.C., then Crystal City, Virginia.