She came under Vichy French control during the Second World War, and passed to the Compagnie des Messageries Maritimes.

[1] She was equipped with two eight-cylinder two-stroke Sulzer diesel engines, driving twin screw propellers,[1] each of four blades.

[6] She departed from Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône on her maiden voyage on 3 November, bound for Alexandria, Egypt, then Jaffa and Haifa, Palestine.

[9][10] George Elwood Nichols was on board, returninhg to Australia having spent the past fourteen months in England engaged in research.

[23] She was bound for Le Havre, Seine-Inférieure, France via Suez, Egypt, Marseille, Dunkerque and Antwerp, Belgium.

Amongst the 35 passengers on board were twenty French Navy sailors who were travelling to Nouméa to join the Arabis-class sloop Bellatrix.

[39] Éridan sailed on 12 July bound for Le Havre via Brisbane, Port Said, Marseille, Dunkerque and Antwerp.

[40] The motor launch Kernell was caught in the wash from Éridan off Jones Bay Wharf and was driven into a punt.

[42] A search of the ship on 20–21 July by Customs officers revealed a revolver and cartridges, and 1,280 cigarettes, which were confiscated.

[81] A search by Customs officers revealed at 1,720 cigarettes, three packets of tobacco and fourteen bottles of liqueurs and wine secreted around the ship.

[92] She was bound for Sydney via Le Havre, Bordeaux, Lisbon, Marseille, Port Said, Alleppey in India, Colombo and Melbourne.

[128] During her stay in Brisbane, crew members of Éridan played four games of football against teams formed of Australian seamen and labourers, winning three of them.

[130] She arrived at Sydney on 6 June,[131] and sailed the next day for Le Havre via Port Said, Marseille, Dunkerque and Antwerp.

On board was ethnologist Hugo Bernatzik, travelling to the Solomon Islands, and a donkey worth F30,000 (£A350) going to New Zealand for stud.

[144] During her voyage, Éridan was observed in a Fata Morgana (a kind of mirage) off Gabo Island by sailors aboard Port Brisbane and Canberra.

[145] Éridan departed from Sydney on 21 December,[146] bound for Port Said, Marseille, Dunkerque, Antwerp, Le Havre and Bordeaux.

[1] A cruise from Sydney to Nouméa in April and May 1933 was advertised in the Daily Commercial News and Shipping List in February 1933.

[191] One of her passengers was James McCall, who was being deported to the United Kingdom after serving thirteen years in prison for attempted murder.

[209] Éridan arrived back at Sydney on 26 March and departed later that day, a passenger short of the intended number.

[215] At the entrance to the Red Sea, Éridan assisted the 80 crew of two Arab fishing boats, which had broken down, had lost their charts and were short of water.

[265] She arrived at Sydney on 30 September,[266] She sailed on 2 October bound for Le Havre via Melbourne, Port Said, Marseille, Dunkerque and Antwerp.

In late 1935, her route was altered to Marseille – Nouméa and Papeete, French Polynesia via the Panama Canal.

[4] Éridan departed from Nouméa on 1 February, bound for Marseille via Papeete, Port Vila, Cristóbal, Panama and Point-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe.

She was bound for Marseille via Port Vila, Raiatea, Society Islands, Papeete, Cristóbal, Fort de France, Haiti, and Point-à-Pitre.

[311] Éridan was captured off the North African coast in November 1942 by forces taking part in Operation Torch,[1] assisted by French Resistance personnel on board.

[312] Éridan was a member of Convoy MKS 6, which departed from the Philippeville, Algeria on 19 January 1943 and arrived at Liverpool, Lancashire, United Kingdom on 1 February.

Her destination was Algiers,[318] which was reached as a member of Convoy KMS 30, which departed from Gibraltar on 31 October and arrived at Port Said on 11 November.

Éridan sailed on 29 December to join Convoy NSF 11,[311] which had departed from Oran that day and arrived at Naples, Italy on 2 January 1944.

She sailed the next day to join Convoy UGS 42,[311] which had departed from the Hampton Roads on 13 May and arrived at Port Said on 8 June.

[4] Éridan was returned to her French owners in March 1946, coming under the ownership of the Compagnie des Messageries Maritimes.