The beginning of April 1940 saw "Draug" part of the 2nd Naval District's 1st destroyer division, covering an area roughly the same as the Vestlandet and Trøndelag regions. She was based in the small south-western port town of Haugesund and carrying out escort missions along the western coast. The day before the invasion, on 8 April "Draug" escorted the 7,369 ton German merchant vessel , a ship that would be sunk outside Kristiansand the next day, when she was caught in the crossfire between the German invasion fleet and Norwegian coastal artillery at Odderøya Fort. The crew of "Seattle" was captured by Norwegian troops and held as PoWs until freed by the advancing invasion forces on 10 April. As she was finishing her escort mission, "Draug" received orders from the Norwegian Naval Command to return at full speed to Haugesund and refuel her coal stores. When "Draug" arrived at Haugesund at about 15:00, the ships' commander, Captain (later Vice Admiral) Thore Horve, was told of the German naval advance through Danish waters and of the sinking of the 5,199 ton clandestine German troop transport by the Polish submarine outside the southern port of Lillesand. In the same time period reports started coming in over the radio of British mining operations off the Norwegian coast.