Although they were effective ships in their intended role, the combination of high internal capacity and exceptionally high speed meant that they were equally valuable as fast transports. As such, for much of their service, they were used for running supplies, particularly men and matériel, to isolated garrisons such as during the Siege of Tobruk and Malta in Operation Harpoon. With three funnels and the outline of a destroyer, was camouflaged to appear like the Vichy French "contre torpilleurs" (large destroyers) . For this, a false bow was fitted, funnel caps were added, the mine chutes were plated over and a false deckline was painted on to camouflage the high flush-deck. "Manxman" received a similar disguise to pass for the Vichy contre torpilleur "Léopard" so she could pass Corsica and mine the approaches to Livorno.