After completing them on 25 October 1939,[3] she steamed to Rosyth to finish her work-ups, and in November 1939 entered service there as an escort for convoys in the North Sea.

[2] On 10 April 1940, Vivien was part of the escort of Convoy ON 25, which had departed Rosyth the previous evening bound for Norway, when she detected a possible submarine and depth-charged it; she also assisted that day in driving off attacks by German Heinkel He 111 bombers and investigated the wreckage of an He 111 shot down by Royal Air Force fighters which crashed 1.5 nautical miles (2.75 km) from her.

On 10 June 1940 she was part of the escort for the first convoy along the east coast of Great Britain to come under attack by German motor torpedo boats (S-boats, known to the Allies as "E-boats").

[6] In December 1941, the civil community of Bromyard, Herefordshire, "adopted" Vivien in a Warship Week National Savings campaign.

[2] During 1944, Vivien was fitted with surface warning radar, as well as radio telephone equipment to improve her ability to cooperate with other ships and aircraft.