"Faraday" was chartered by the Admiralty to recover German cable off Ushant with intention of refurbishing the cable and relaying it to Narvik. This plan was cancelled after the evacuation from Narvik and the ship was then laid up until requisitioned by the Admiralty, becoming HMS "Faraday" with some of the civilian crew remaining on board to maintain the cable machinery, first for training of Naval cadets but then for cable work around the African coast.