After a one-month stay at Balikpapan fueling Allied warships, "Trinity" steamed first to Koepang Bay, Timor, and then to Kebola Bay, at Amor Island in the Netherlands East Indies. Standing out of Kebola Bay on 17 January 1942, "Trinity" set course for Australia, escorted by the destroyers and . The ships were in the Beagle Gulf west of Darwin, Australia, on the morning of 20 January 1942 when the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine sighted "Trinity" heading toward Darwin. Misidentifying "Trinity" as a transport, "I-123" fired four Type 89 torpedoes at "Trinity" at shortly after 0630. The sound man aboard "I-123" reported hearing one torpedo hit "Trinity", but in fact all four torpedoes missed, although "Trinity" sighted three of them and reported the attack. "Alden" then searched for "I-123", made sound contact, and conducted a brief depth charge attack at 06:41 before losing contact on "I-123" and abandoning the search. "I-123" escaped unscathed.