[1] After the First World War she was owned by Anglo-Saxon Petroleum, which is part of Royal Dutch Shell.

In 1900 and 1901 Bucknall Steamship Lines Ltd took delivery of a set of four new sister ships from two shipbuilders in North East England.

In 1900 Sir James Laing & Sons Ltd at Sunderland on the River Wear launched Manica on 25 September and Barotse on 22 December.

[2][3] In 1901 Armstrong, Whitworth & Co Ltd at Low Walker on the River Tyne launched Bantu on 16 July and Baralong on 12 September.

One was from Ceylon and the other was African American, which made them "prohibited immigrants" under the White Australia policy.

[7] Details of the two fugitives were published in South Australian newspapers, and £10 reward was offered for their capture.

On 26 September Port Adelaide Police Court convicted them of desertion and sentenced them to seven days in prison.

[10] On 16 April Manica reached Lemnos in the Aegean Sea, which was an Allied base for the Gallipoli campaign.

[11] On various dates Manica directed the fire of Royal Navy battleships including HMS Queen Elizabeth, Triumph and Lord Nelson.

On 27 April an observer in Manica's balloon sighted an Ottoman transport ship on the far side of the Gallipoli peninsula, and successfully directed Queen Elizabeth's 15-inch guns to hit and sink her.

[7][13] On at least two occasions Ottoman aircraft including a Etrich Taube tried to bomb either Manica or her balloon.

[7] Manica bunkered at Gibraltar and Port Said, passed through the Suez Canal and called at Mombasa in British East Africa before reaching Zanzibar on 15 April.

On 13 June the battleship HMS Vengeance and protected cruisers Challenger and Pioneer bombarded the town of Tanga near the border with British East Africa, as Manica's seaplane directed their guns.

On 7 July the protected cruiser HMS Talbot and monitor Severn, again supported by Manica's observers, entered Manza Bay[9] and put troops ashore who occupied Tanga.

[15] On 13 July Manica deployed her seaplane and balloon to direct the guns of HMS Severn, which bombarded the town of Pangani.

Manica did the same for bombardments of the town of Sadani by the monitor Mersey on 26 July and battleship Vengeance on 3 August.

[18] On the morning 16 August, German artillery defending Bagamoyo fired at Manica, but no damage was recorded.

[9] On 21 July Manica had deployed her seaplane and balloon to direct Mersey's guns in a bombardment of Dar es Salaam, the capital of German East Africa.

The Navy resumed the attack on 21 August, when Manica's balloon and seaplane observed for Vengeance to bombard the city.

[19] After Dar es Salaam fell, British and Empire forces took the remaining coast of German East Africa with little or no resistance.