"Soemba" sailed for Ceylon in mid-March 1942. She spent most of the next year on patrol in the vicinity of the Persian Gulf until she was transferred to the Mediterranean in May 1943. "Soemba" provided naval gunfire support during the amphibious landings in Sicily, Salerno, and Anzio and escorted convoys until March 1944. That month the ship was transferred to Portsmouth to refit in preparation for the landings in Normandy in June.