HMS Serapis was a Euphrates-class troopship commissioned for the transport of troops to and from India.

They had a single screw, a speed of 14 knots, one funnel, a barque-rig sail plan, three 4-pounder guns and a white-painted hull.

She spent all of her career on the United Kingdom to India route carrying troops, a trip that averaged 70 days.

[2] On 22 October 1872, Serapis ran aground in the Suez Canal.

[5] On 6 December, she collided with the British steamship Paladine at Malta.

In 1884 the commanding officer, Captain Arthur Dupuis, was suspended after the ship grounded off Portland.