In contrast to most other Swiss paddle steamers, the most striking features of this vessel and its sister ship Stadt Zürich (1909) are a short smoke stack, and a spacious 1st class upper deck.

On May 29, 1914, Stadt Rapperswil started her maiden voyage, housing members of cantonal and municipal authorities, representatives of Lake Zürich shore communities, and Escher, Wyss & Cie. and further prominent guests on board..

Beginning World War II, the boiler stayed filled with water, and in Winter the plant room was heated to keep the temperature above the freezing point (operationally for military purposes for 24 hours).

[3] On 17 July 2015 the paddle steamer was on its way from the upper lake Zürich back to Bürkliplatz when, due to the very strong winds, it ran aground near Lützelau island.

The grounding caused damage to the paddle wheel and the ship's hull plates buckled inwards along her larboard side, necessitating the evacuation of its 91 passengers onto the MS Limmat.

[4] After the paddle steamer's holeout the ZSG announced that the ship was much more badly damaged than initially assumed, and so the repair took about four months; the costs amounted to approximately CHF 300000.