The ship arrived in Darwin on 18 February 1942 loaded with 14,000 drums of aviation gasoline destined for the Philippines. On 19 February 1942 Japanese aircraft attacked the port, surrounding installations, and other ships in the port and area. Those ships included ships of the Timor convoy that had been escorted by and turned back by air attacks. "Admiral Halstead" was strafed and near bomb misses sprung plates causing some flooding. The crew abandoned ship but returned to bring the ship in to unload the critical aviation gasoline cargo over a number of nights and going offshore to during the day. The crew of the heavily damaged and beached was drafted to unload the cargo. At one point, after objecting that the troops and Australian stevedores were idle and not so engaged, they were held under arrest.