effected she arrived at Norfolk and on 12 January she embarked eleven Martlet Is. She departed Norfolk on 13 January but was soon in trouble, as her steering developed a fault and her gyro compass failed. Repairs were made and she set course for Kingston, Jamaica. Later that day Archer had a collision with the U.S. freighter Brazos some east of Charleston, South Carolina (). Archer sustained damage to her bow, and eventually settled down at the bow by 5 degrees after the damage and flooding had been contained. Both ships were dead in the water. The 35 crewmembers of Brazos transferred to Archer in their own lifeboats and Brazos sank on 14 January. Archers captain had radioed for assistance and at first light started to make for the coast, but as her propeller was half out of the water, progress was minimal. On 16 January, Archer rendezvoused with US Coastguard tug Tallapoosa which unsuccessfully attempted to tow Archer. It was decided that Archer should continue under her own power until a more powerful tug could assist her. On 17 January, reached her and proceeded to tow her to Charleston, where she arrived on 21 January. She entered dry dock on 28 January for repairs, which took about six weeks. On 7 March 1942, Archer embarked twelve Martlets for delivery to and her own four Fairey Swordfish aircraft of 834 Squadron which had flown out from Jamaica. She sailed on 18 March for San Juan, Puerto Rico, in company with and two destroyers as part of Convoy AS 2. On 22 March Archer again had problems with her steering gear. She put into San Juan on 23 March and rejoined the convoy on 24 March. Anti-submarine patrols were carried out without a sighting, although one Swordfish was badly damaged on 30 March when it lost its tailhook and ended up in the safety barrier. Although her engines and gyro compass continued to give trouble, she arrived at Freetown. Sierra Leone on 3 April. On 9 April, Archers twelve brand new Martlets were transferred to Illustrious and two Martlets from Illustrious were transferred to Archer. On 15 June 1942, one of her Swordfish aircraft became the first ever aircraft to land on Ascension Island. The aircraft's crew were looking for survivors from SS Lyle Park which had been sunk by U-752. They landed to pass on a message destined for the