The Senior Naval Officer at Queenstown, Ireland (now Cobh, County Cork), was required to write weekly reports regarding the deployment of vessels under his charge. The reports were sent to the Secretary of the Admiralty and contain tables listing which armed trawlers were tasked with escorting which vessels and where the escort was to be begin and end. From these tables we know that through October and early November 1917, the DERBENT was being escorted on short voyages between Queenstown, Barry, and Liverpool. The named trawlers included the RODNEY 653 and CARLEDA 1721 between Queenstown and Barry on 16 October 1917, and BRECK 927 and RODNEY 953 between Queenstown and Liverpool on 22 November 1917.

Source:
ADM137/534. Auxiliary Patrol Weekly Reports, Areas XVIII, XIX, XX and XXI, Queenstown, 1917, July – December. ADM - Records of the Admiralty, Naval Forces, Royal Marines, Coastguard, and related bodies. The National Archives, Kew. p. 294.