initially "irish oak" sailed with convoy sc 52, which departed from sydney, nova scotia on 29 october 1941. on 3 november the convoy was attacked by and and lost four ships; it turned back for sydney and arrived on 5 november. but neglect had left the "irish oak" in poor condition. ships from sc 52 were merged with convoy sc 53 and "irish oak" sailed with it, but had to return to sydney. her next attempt was with convoy sc 55, which departed sydney on 16 november 1941 and arrived at liverpool on 5 december, but again engine problems struck and she was towed to saint john, new brunswick. "irish oak" remained in st. john for four months while efforts were made to repair her engine. eventually she had to be towed to boston for repairs. the voyage from new orleans to dublin - including repairs - took nine months: "irish oak" berthed in dublin on 6 july 1942.