Arriving Norfolk 20 June 1941, Relief thereafter served as a base hospital for the Atlantic Fleet in waters from Charleston, South Carolina, to Newfoundland. She was in port at NS Argentia, Newfoundland, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The following day she got underway via Boston for Norfolk. Returning north, she arrived Casco Bay, Maine, 28 April and provided for the health needs of men training to man the navy's new fighting ships. She also cared for victims of the war in the Atlantic.
