She continued as a depot ship until 26 February 1941 when she was renamed HMAS "Platypus" and returned to seagoing service as a training ship. In May 1941, "Platypus" sailed to Darwin to serve as a base ship. She survived the Japanese attack on Darwin in February 1942 and remained at Darwin until January 1943 when she sailed to Cairns, Queensland where she again served as a base ship until May 1944. In June 1944 "Platypus" received a major refit and sailed to New Guinea as a repair and maintenance vessel. She operated off New Guinea and Morotai Island until returning to Australia in December 1945. The wartime service of "Platypus" was later recognised with the battle honour "Darwin 1942-43".