She was built to run the mail route from Southampton, England to Cape Town, South Africa starting in 1900.

However, she began her life early, in December 1899, being requisitioned by the government to carry 3,000 troops to Cape Town at the start of the Boer War, and was temporarily used in South Africa to house POW's.

She also served as a hospital ship during the Dardanelles Campaign, outfitted with 603 beds, and converted in March 1916 to an armed merchant cruiser.

In January 1917, she took Lord Milner and 51 VIP delegates from England, France and Italy to Murmansk, Russia, on the Petrograd Mission.

[2][3][4][5] She then undertook convoy duties in the North Atlantic, returning to her normal South African mail run after the war.