At Singapore Shaw, Savill and Albion had "Dominion Monarch" drydocked and her engines stripped down for overhaul, but on 7 December Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and the next day it invaded Hong Kong and Malaya. Japanese forces rapidly gained air superiority and mounted increasing air raids on Singapore. "Dominion Monarch"s engines had been dismantled, but her Chief Engineer and crew rapidly got them reassembled and on 10 December she sailed for the relative safety of New Zealand. Two months later in the Battle of Singapore most of the troops that she had taken to Singapore were either killed or captured and spent the next three and a half years as PoWs of the Japanese.