In mid October 1935 Commodore ER Drummond received orders to dispatch a cruiser to the East Indies Station on Special Service. Italy had invaded Abyssinia on October 2.
Diomede was in dock at Auckland, Stoker 2nd Class Thomas Barrymore Paton joined ship on 1 October.
Philomel his previous ship piped Diomede out of the docks as she sailed from Auckland for service on the East Indies Station, based in Aden on the Red Sea where the cruiser spent some months on patrol.
