From July 8, Shamrock IV is dismantled for her voyage across the Atlantic and on 18 July 1914, under the command of Captain Turner, left Portsmouth for the U.S.A. under tow by Lipton's steam yacht, Erin. She arrived Azores on July 28, having taken seven days and three hours from Falmouth. Lipton's plans were altered on August 7, when Colonel Neil, in charge of Erin, received a message announcing the start of hostilities between Germany and England. The First World War was underway. Shamrock IV and Erin were ordered to sail to the nearest British port, Saint George in Bermuda, where they arrived on 9 August 1914. Although Shamrock IV reached New York on 13 August 1914. She was hauled out and boxed up at the Shewan shipyard, foot of Twenty-seventh Street, South Brooklyn.