The UK Ministry of Shipping renamed her Empire Ability and contracted Elder Dempster Lines to operate her.

[4] Uhenfels was built with a Maierform bow with a convex profile, which was meant to improve both her speed and her handling.

On her third attempt she left Lourenço Marques in Portuguese East Africa disguised as the Dutch merchant Aagtekerk.

[7] Uhenfels reached the Atlantic, but there she ran into the Royal Navy's Force K, which had been deployed in search of the German cruiser Admiral Graf Spee.

She reached London on 5 April 1940, the first captured German vessel to arrive in port in the Second World War.

On 23 October 1940, she was among the ships bombed and damaged by German aircraft while waiting in Gare Loch for a convoy to assemble.

[2] In December 1940 Empire Ability left the Firth of Clyde for Egypt via Freetown and Durban, reaching Suez in February 1941.

[11] On 27 February 1941, the Italian submarine Michele Bianchi attacked Convoy OB 290 in the North Atlantic and claimed to have scored a probable hit on the Empire Ability.

[11] Empire Ability returned via Port Louis, Durban, Cape Town and Freetown, where she waited for a fortnight for a convoy to Liverpool.

A total of 107 crew, DEMS gunners, military personnel and passengers successfully abandoned ship.