"Albemarle", after again wearing Rear Admiral Bristol's flag on 2 May, departed Newport for Norfolk on 4 May, arriving the following day. The seaplane tender then cleared the Virginia Capes on the morning of 9 May for Newport, and arrived there the following morning. She embarked officers and men of VP-52 on 12 May and then sailed the following morning (13 May) for Naval Station Argentia, Newfoundland. Ultimately anchoring in Little Placentia Bay, Argentia, on the morning of 18 May, "Albemarle" was soon laying 13 seaplane moorings and gathering data on the weather of the region, establishing the advanced base for VP-52's operations from Argentia. Over the days that followed, in addition to tending the planes assigned to her, she also fueled a succession of destroyers. On 20 May, she received a visit from not only Rear Admiral Bristol – his first visit to Argentia, which he later made his headquarters – but Rear Admiral John H. Towers, the Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics, who both arrived separately in planes from VP-56. Both flag officers departed the following morning. Twelve PBY Catalinas of VP-52 arrived at Argentia from Quonset Point on 18 May, and immediately commenced familiarization flights in the region – activities which were suddenly cancelled on 24 May. On that day, the , which had left Norwegian waters shortly before in company with the on what was to be a raiding cruise into the Atlantic, encountered and destroyed the British battle cruiser . An anxious Prime Minister Winston Churchill, concerned over the convoy routes that lay open to the powerful German battleship, immediately cabled President Franklin D. Roosevelt and requested American help.