Each of the ship's two sets of Parsons geared steam turbines drove one propeller shaft.

The turbines were rated at 6,500 shaft horsepower (4,800 kW) and gave Woolwich a speed of 15.25 knots (28.24 km/h; 17.55 mph).

[1] The ship carried 1,112 long tons (1,130 t) of fuel oil,[2] which gave her a range of 12,000 nautical miles (22,000 km; 14,000 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

[2] She was initially armed with four quick-firing (QF) four-inch Mk V gun on single high-angle mounts amidships.

Woolwich sailed again for the Mediterranean in September; while circumnavigating Africa, she had to put into Mombasa, Kenya for repairs to her boilers before she arrived in Alexandria in November.

[4] In mid-June 1942, Vice-Admiral Henry Harwood, Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, ordered all non-essential ships to leave Alexandria as he was preparing to demolish the port facilities there to prevent their capture by the advancing Panzer Army Africa.

Woolwich and the repair ship HMS Resource, escorted by six destroyers, were transferred south of the Suez Canal until the victory at the Second Battle of El Alamein in October allowed them to return to Alexandria.

Woolwich was sold to Arnott Young in 1962 for scrap and arrived at Dalmuir, Scotland, on 18 October to be broken up.