[5] On 15 June 1941, Lothringen was captured by the British light cruiser HMS Dunedin and taken into service of the Admiralty, crewed by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

[9] The ship was due to rendezvous with a U-boat on 17 June 1941,[10] however on the early morning of the 15 June Lothringen was sighted at position 19°49′N 38°30′W / 19.817°N 38.500°W / 19.817; -38.500,[7] north west of the Cape Verde Islands, by Fairey Swordfish aircraft of the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle[10] while on patrol as part of Operation Salvage looking for commerce raiders and U-boat supply ships in the South Atlantic.

The Swordfish attacked with machine-gun fire and 250 lb (110 kg) bombs damaging the ship's lifeboats.

[11][9] When the Lothringen was captured, it provided valuable new techniques and design in replenishment at sea and specifically a new type of buoyant rubber hose.

The United Kingdom Official Number 159160 and Code Letters BGTY wer allocated.

For Operation Husky, Empire Salvage was in the Mediterranean refuelling ships in Algiers harbour and the Gulf of Salerno.

The Empire Salvage was transferred back to the Dutch government but chartered by the Ministry of War Transport for continued operations.

[12] After a refit which included adding a boat deck amidships went into commercial service as Papendrecht.

From 23 November 1963 it was used as a storage tanker for molasses in Beira, Mozambique and the following year sold to Kinoshita & Co., Tokyo for breaking up, which occurred in February 1964.