On 2 December 1939, together with fishing trawler Cardew, they rescued six of the crew of the Swedish cargo ship Rudolf, which had been torpedoed by submarine U-56.

[1][2] On 3 February 1940, Lt D B Johnstone and his crew endeavoured to defuse a loose British horned mine in the Firth of Forth.

As they did this, a British destroyer went by at high speed and its bow wave caused one of the oars on the boat to touch a detonator spike on the mine.

Whilst in the English Channel off Harwich on 17 February 1942, working with minesweepers Caswell and Stella Rigel, she was attacked by two enemy aircraft, but none were hit.

She was renamed St Just H320 based in Harwich, and returned to her original designed function as a fishing trawler.