 The ship was initially assigned as the leader of the 1st Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean and made a brief deployment to the Persian Gulf and Red Sea in September – November 1933 . After refitting at Portsmouth between 3 September and 23 October , Duncan led most of her flotilla to the China Station , arriving at Hong Kong on 3 January 1935 . The next few years were spent " showing the flag " around the Far East , and visiting Japan , the Philippines , the Dutch East Indies , Singapore , Thailand and Malaya . The ship was under repairs between 14 December 1936 and 4 January 1937 from damage sustained when testing refuelling at sea techniques . She was in Shanghai during the Japanese invasion of 1937 and evacuated British civilians to Woosung , together with the sloop HMS Falmouth . On 28 October 1938 , Duncan was struck by the Greek steamer Pipina whilst lying at anchor at Foo Chow , China . The ship was repaired and given a refit at Hong Kong between 31 October and 14 January 1939 . She was lightly damaged when struck by a high @-@ speed target at Wei Hai Wei , China , in July 1939 . 
