[1][2] Her engines and machinery were fitted at James Watt Dock, Greenock, with her sea trials taking place in the Firth of Clyde on 24 May 1939.

After the successful completion of these, Cedardale was accepted into Admiralty service on 25 May, departing two days later, on 27 May on her maiden voyage to Abadan, on the Persian Gulf.

[2] She then sailed to the Seychelles, via Curaçao, Simonstown and Mauritius, remaining based in the Indian Ocean, operating between Mombasa, Addu Atoll, Trincomalee and Bombay until April 1943.

Deployed off Leyte Gulf, she was part of Task Force 112 in Operation Iceberg, the British Fleet Train's contribution to the allied assault on Okinawa.

[2] The postwar years were spent deployed to the Far East, making frequent voyages to and from the UK via the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean.