In August 1939, "Tenedos", along with sister ships , and , formed a local defence flotilla at Hong Kong. On 24 August 1939 "Tenedos" and "Scout" left Hong Kong for Singapore. When the two destroyers arrived at Singapore on 28 August, they were quickly converted to minelayers, which involved removal of one 4 inch gun and the torpedo tubes to accommodate 40 mines. The two destroyers laid a defensive minefield of 544 mines off Singapore between 4 and 8 September 1939, after which "Scout" was returned to normal destroyer configuration, while "Tenedos" continued on minelaying duties, with two more minefields being laid off Singapore by October 1939. Two merchant ships, and , were sunk by these minefields in October–November 1939. "Tenedos" then had her normal destroyer armament refitted. On 23 March 1940, the Royal Navy formed Malaya Force, with the intention of preventing German merchant ships from leaving harbours in the Dutch East Indies. "Tenedos", along with was assigned to patrol off Sabang, where five German ships were trapped. The German merchant ships were seized by the Dutch following the German invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940.