 After working up to satisfactory operational capability in Scapa Flow – where the ship and her captain were assessed by RN experts – the last months of the year were spent on North Sea convoy escort duties, as was 1941, although on 4 October the ship carried out a brief search for a German destroyer reported minelaying off South Foreland.In 1941, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.Dechaineux returned to Australia later in 1941, as Director of Operations at the Navy Office in Melbourne.