Converted from the cross-Channel packet ship SS Engadine, she was initially fitted with temporary hangars for three seaplanes for aerial reconnaissance and bombing missions in the North Sea.

The ship's six boilers generated enough steam to produce 13,800 shaft horsepower (10,300 kW) from the turbines,[2] enough for a designed speed of 21.5 knots (39.8 km/h; 24.7 mph).

[3] Engadine carried 400 tonnes (390 long tons) of coal,[2] enough to give her a range of 1,250 nautical miles (2,320 km; 1,440 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).

[4] SS Engadine was laid down by William Denny and Brothers at their Dumbarton, Scotland shipyard as a fast packet for the South East and Chatham Railway's Folkestone-Boulogne run.

[2] Upon completion of the modifications on 1 September, Engadine was assigned to the Harwich Force along with the seaplane tenders Empress and Riviera.

[10] A notable member of Engerdine's crew was Robert Erskine Childers who served as an instructor in coastal navigation to newly trained pilots.

[4] Upon completion of the conversion, she rejoined the Harwich Force; on 3 July, Engadine and Riviera attempted to launch aircraft to reconnoitre the River Ems and lure out a Zeppelin so that it could be attacked.

Later that month Engadine carried out trials on high-speed towing of kite balloons for gunnery observations, although she generally served as a base ship for the fleet's seaplanes.

[13] On 30 May 1916, Engadine was attached to the 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron, commanded by Rear Admiral Trevylyan Napier, and carried two Short Type 184 and two Sopwith Baby floatplanes aboard.

[14] Beatty ordered Engadine to make a search to the north-northeast at 14:40 and she sailed through the BCF before turning north-east to find calmer water.

At 15:07 Lieutenant Frederick Rutland took off in his Type 184 and his observer signalled Engadine that they had spotted three German cruisers and five destroyers at 15:30.

[15] The 14,000-long-ton (14,000 t) armoured cruiser Warrior had been crippled by numerous hits by German battleships around 18:30 and fell in with Engadine 10 minutes later.

One of Warrior's guns punctured Engadine's hull below the waterline as the former ship rolled in the moderate seas, but this was quickly patched.

[17] She was sold back to her original owners, the South Eastern and Chatham Railway, in December 1919 and resumed her former role as a cross-Channel ferry.

[18] At 22:00 on 16 December 1941, Corregidor left its dock in Manila in total darkness, loaded to overcapacity with Filipino civilians seeking to escape to the southern Philippines after the war had started.

Some officers posted at the Army's Seaward Defense Command headquarters on the island recommended that the mines be temporarily disarmed so that the ship could pass through the minefield.

A number of accounts state that Seaward Defense Commander Colonel Paul Bunker ordered that the mines be kept active.

Thereafter, we had no trouble with unauthorized Filipino boats attempting to traverse the channel" When the Corregidor entered the minefield, there was a large explosion on the starboard side of the vessel.

[23] Sailors of MTB Squadron 3 posted at Sisiman Cove heard the explosion and left on three PT boats (PT-32, PT-34 and PT-35) to investigate.