Clyde served as a troopship in 1879, taking British Army reinforcements to Southern Africa for the Anglo-Zulu War.

[2] City of Poona had a 2-cylinder compound steam engine and was propelled by a single screw up to 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph).

[1] The British Army pulled raw recruits and men from the depots of other regiments into a draft to be sent to the Colony of Natal to reinforce the unit ahead of a second invasion of Zululand.

The remaining men worked to rescue the troops' baggage until 1:30 pm when it was judged that the ship was sinking beyond recovery.

The men chose a campsite some 3.2 kilometres (2 mi) inland, to which the surviving baggage was carried using a local farmer's waggon.

[5] The sinking of the Clyde was the second maritime incident to affect the second invasion; the SS City of Paris (1865), carrying troops and supplies, had run aground in Simon's Bay on 23 March.

[5][3] One of the draft, Lieutenant Jahleel Brenton Carey, fresh out of the Staff College, Camberley, was commended for his actions during the sinking.