In 1901 she was the royal yacht HMS Ophir, taking the then Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York on a tour of the British Empire.

Robert Napier and Sons built Ophir in Govan, Glasgow, as yard number 421.

The combined power of her twin engines was rated at 1,398 NHP[3] or 9,500 ihp,[4] and gave her a speed of 18 knots (33 km/h).

[7] One appreciative passenger was "the Welsh Swagman" Joseph Jenkins who embarked at Melbourne on 24 November 1894, bound for Tilbury in a second-class cabin at the fare of £26 15s 6d.

[10][11] In 1901, as HMS Ophir, she took the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York (the future King George V and Queen Mary) on their tour of the British Empire.

[13] The Royal Navy provided deck crew for the tour, and the engine room staff were from the Orient Line.

[14] A chief petty officer McGregor, working for Alfred John West's "Our Navy" company, filmed the cruise.

Cinema film and lantern slides of the cruise were shown to the British Royal Family and staff at Sandringham House on 9 November 1901.

[citation needed] (Ref: Personal diary of the Prince of Wales (later King George V), 10 November 1901: "Afterwards West and McGregor showed the cinematograph photographs, taken by the latter, during our tour in the Colonies in the ball room, all the tenants & servants came, they were interesting but not very successful."

[15] After the UK entered the First World War, the Admiralty requisitioned Ophir for conversion into an armed merchant cruiser.

She then headed north, called at ports in northern Chile, and on 26 December passed through the Panama Canal.