Made redundant by the 1932 opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Royal Australian Navy converted her to a boom defence vessel.

Kuramia followed Sydney Ferries Limited's tradition of naming their vessels after Australian Indigenous words starting with "K".

The K class were all propelled by triple expansion steam engines and were predominantly timber-hulled (four later K-class had steel hulls).

[9] Kuramia was designed by J Darter, under the supervision of T Drown, Sydney Ferries Limited works manager.

She was operated on the Circular Quay to Milsons Point run,[4] joining the regular ferries on that route, Kulgoa (1905) and Kaikai (1907).

[5][16] For a few months after the end of World War II she remained in use as a dormitory and amenities ship before finally being paid off in December 1945.