The Hellenic Fleet on its arrival in Alexandria was in a bad condition, as almost all battleships were old and overworked. That is why the need to repair them was immediate, always in cooperation with the British. Because of the lack of tanks in Egypt it was not possible to repair them there, so it was decided that the Hellenic Destroyers would sail alternately to India for repairs, while submarines and smaller ships were to use the Red Sea port, Port Sudan.
After arriving in Alexandria, Averof was used for two months as headquarters of the Ministry of the Navy of the exiled Hellenic Government. There were thoughts of sending the ship to America for repairs and conversions, which were not implemented. Finally, as far as the utilization of the ship was concerned, she was ordered to be sent to the Indian Ocean. The main reason that led the British to this decision was that the old ship was deemed incapable of meeting the requirements that had the missions on the naval front of the Mediterranean. In addition, she was intended for the release of valuable space in the port of Alexandria, as well as to avoid unnecessary exposure of the Averof to enemy bombing.
On 1 July 1941, G. Averof arrived at Port Said and after entering the Suez Canal continued her journey with an intermediate destination in Port Tewfik where docked in July. There, for a period of 20 days, the ship effectively contributed to the air defense of the area, which was under heavy bombardment by the German Air Force. As a result of the attacks, the huge British troopship Georgic, which was anchored next to the Averof, sank, having hundreds of victims. The guns of the Averof were constantly firing until exhaustion of their ammunition, shooting down an enemy bomber while the ship did not take a single hit. From there she headed to the Indian Ocean to participate in patrols and convoy escorts, because the Allies had great shortages of battleships and cruisers on this front.
Finally Averof, after crossing the Suez Canal, she sailed to Mumbai, India on September 10, 1941, where she remained for 12 months. In Mumbai the ship was docked and from there sailed on 25 September heading first to the Persian Gulf, where she received, seized in Iran, German steamers escorting them back to Bombay where she returned on 4 October. Later in December, she sailed to Singapore escorting a convoy of 5 ships, the custody of which she handed over to a British Cruiser South of Ceylon. She then escorted a troopship to Colombo where she arrived on 25 December and then returned again to Mumbai, after receiving another convoy. Finally, the ship undertook a patrol mission in the Persian Gulf between 9 and 15 January 1942.
After the above missions, the ship remained stationary due to the bad condition of her engines and as long as the ship was in a state of immobility due to repairs, it was decided that part of the crew would be used for manning of the new Corvettes and Destroyers that our Navy was expected to receive. Finally, Averof returned to Egypt, specifically to Port Said on November 23, 1942.
