On the 21st October 1939 the Monowai of 10,852 tons was taken over and converted into an Armed Merchant Cruiser (A.M.C.) and initially served in the South Pacific as convoy escort. On the 16th January 1942 she was attacked by gunfire from a Japanese submarine off Suva Fiji but escaped without damage. In February 1944 she was converted into a Landing Ship Infantry (L.S.I.) making voyages to Port Said and Italy and from there went to the Solent to be prepared for the Normandy Landings where she carried 30,000 troops across to France making a remarkable 20 voyages to the beaches.

From November 1944 to March 1945 Monowai carried a further 43,000 troops between Southampton and Le Havre this was to mark the end of her trooping transport days, she spent the rest of the war repatriating prisoners of war and the return of Australian soldiers. In September 1946 she was refitted in Sydney and returned to trade January 1949 she was scrapped in Hong Kong 6th September 1960.