Arpha was a 602 GRT passenger ferry built in 1900 as Canterbury for the South Eastern and Chatham Railway.

In 1938 she was sold to Sark Motorships Ltd, only to be requisitioned by the Royal Navy in 1939.

Postwar, she was sold to Compania Shell de Venezuela and renamed Coriano.

She was yard number 640 and was launched on 6 December 1900 with completion in January 1901.

[3] Canterbury was built for the South Eastern and Chatham Railway.

[3] Her port of registry was changed to Cowes, Isle of Wight.

She was used as an armed boarding vessel in the Mediterranean and Red Sea as part of the Contraband Control Service.