In late January 1942 the transport left New York for Australia returning in April and then in May transported troops to Iceland and Glasgow. From Glasgow the ship went to Cape Town, South Africa, before returning to New York in August to prepare for the invasion of North Africa 8–16 November 1942. After the landing the transport returned to New York to make regular voyages to African and European ports until May–June 1944 when the ship underwent major repairs. The ship would have been transferred to the Navy and named USS "J. W. McAndrew" (AP-47) in 1943, but this was cancelled. The major ports served between the North African landings and the end of the war were Oran, Casablanca, Algiers, Gibraltar, Belfast, the Clyde, Naples, Plymouth and Southampton and after the Normandy landings Cherbourg and Le Havre.