On 14 May 1940, she helped to transfer the Navy attaché Admiral Sir Gerald Charles Dickens and two Dutch radar researchers (J.L.C.W Von Weiler and M. Staal) from Scheveningen to the Hook, where they were transferred to . On 15 May 1940, she was deployed as part of "Operation Ordnance" off the Hook in South Holland. From 26 May to 4 June she assisted in the evacuation of Dunkirk, making eight runs between Dunkirk and England. The ship's then commander, Sir Thomas Halsey, was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order on 7 June 1940 "for good services in the withdrawal of the Allied Armies from the beaches at Dunkirk".