Empire Battleaxe was transferred under the terms of lend lease shortly after being completed.[5] She was chartered by the Ministry of War Transport and operated under the management of Cunard White Star Line.[4] She came to the United Kingdom as part of Convoy HX267, which departed New York on 19 November 1943. Empire Battleaxe was carrying a cargo of fish[6] She took part in exercises in the Cromarty Firth and Moray Firth to train troops in preparation for the invasion of France. In May 1944, she took part in an exercise near Littlehampton.[7]
She took part in the Normandy Landings carrying part of 537 LCA Flotilla, carrying troops to Sword Beach.[7] The flotilla that Empire Battleaxe was in consisted of four ships, the others being SS Empire Broadsword, SS Empire Cutlass and HMS Glenearn.[8] Empire Battleaxe was close to HNoMS Svenner when that ship was torpedoed and sunk by E-boats.[7] Among those she carried to Normandy was the actor David Niven.[9] After landing her troops, Empire Battleaxe returned to the United Kingdom to collect a second wave of troops. Empire Battleaxe was then commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Empire Battleaxe.[7]
In August 1944, HMS Empire Battleaxe was sent to the Pacific as part of Force X. She sailed in a convoy of seven ships comprising SS Clan Lamont, SS Empire Arquebus, HMS Empire Battleaxe, SS Empire Mace, SS Empire Spearhead, and HMS Glenearn. The convoy sailed from Greenock on 3 August via New York and the Panama Canal, arriving at Suva, Fiji, where the convoy dispersed, in late September. HMS Emipire Battleaxe then sailed to Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea, arriving on 25 October. Australian troops aboard HMS Empire Battleaxe took part in the Bougainville Campaign. She departed Bougainville Island on 14 January 1945 and sailed to Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea, arriving on 2 February. HMS Empire Battleaxe then joined a convoy bound for the Philippines. She was towing a number of LCMs which reduced her speed to 5 knots (9.3 km/h). She arrived at Lingayen Gulf on 18 February where her Landing Craft were involved in the retaking of the Philippines from the Japanese. HMS Empire Battleaxe departed the Lingayen Gulf with a consignment of American ex-PoWs, arriving at Sydney, Australia on 19 March. HMS Empire Battleaxe departed Sydney on 11 April 1945, bound for Falmouth where she was to be refitted.