In 1941 the Royal Navy captured her, and the UK Ministry of War Transport renamed her Empire Arun.

In 1922, Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino (STT) in Trieste built a pair of cargo ships for Navigazione Libera Triestina (NLT).

[citation needed] In November 1924, STT completed a third steam turbine cargo ship for NLT.

NLT was dissolved, and its fleet divided between "Italia" SA di Navigazione and Lloyd Triestino.

Late in January 1941, British and Empire troops invaded Italian Somaliland in Operation Canvas.

On 13 February Hawkins and the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle sank the oil tanker Pensilvania.

[15] HMS Hawkins diverted Savoia to Mombasa in Kenya, where she arrived on 14 February;[15] the same day that British and Empire troops captured the port of Kismayo.

The British placed her Italian crew in an internment camp, and took Savoia as a prize ship via South Africa and Freetown in Sierra Leone to Britain.

She left Freetown in Convoy SL 92 on 6 November 1941, by which time she carried a cargo of whale oil, copper, and alcohol.

[17] On 18 January 1942, Empire Arun left Liverpool carrying general cargo as a member of Convoy OS 17.

[19] Empire Arun operated unescorted in the Gulf of Guinea, calling at Freetown on 19–20 April and 6–9 May.

[21] There is a gap in the records of her movements until early in 1943, when the ship left Freetown on 29 January in Convoy ST 54.

From Lagos she crossed the South Atlantic to Rio de Janeiro and Santos in Brazil, arriving back off Freetown on 28 May.

On 21 June, just before SL 130 reached Liverpool, Empire Arun detached for Belfast Lough.

[20] Empire Arun loaded a cargo of coal in Newport, and on 13 September 1943 left unescorted for Milford Haven.

[22] Empire Arun continued unescorted to Rio de Janeiro; Santos; and then Freetown, where she arrived on 19 November.

[20] By the time she left Freetown on 23 November, she was carrying general cargo, plus perishable goods in her refrigerated space.

[20] She loaded general cargo and explosives, and returned with Convoy HX 294, which reached Liverpool on 19 June.

Before HX 303 reached Liverpool, Empire Arun detached for Loch Ewe, where she joined Convoy WN 626 to the Firth of Forth off Methil.

[20] She left Halifax on 2 December with Convoy SC 162, by which time she was carrying steel and general cargo.

She detached from SC 171 to join Convoy BTC 125, which was going from Milford Haven to the Thames Estuary off Southend.

[27] Ormos was run by Leonidas J Goulandris (1902–52);[26] a member of a Greek shipping family based in London.

[30] On 20 July 1951, Hikari Kisen KK bought Dryad and renamed her Shiranesan Maru,[31] after Mount Nikkō-Shirane.

[33] Her original turbines were replaced with a set of second-hand engines that Uraga Dock Company of Yokosuka had built in 1938.