Archibald McMillan and Son built the ship at Dumbarton, launching her 22 February 1898 as Valetta for Gow, Harrison and Company.

She had a single screw, driven by a three-cylinder triple-expansion steam engine built by David Rowan and Son of Glasgow, rated at 339 NHP.

[5] In November 1913 Balmes left Havana, Cuba carrying 103 passengers and a cargo of sugar, rum and raw cotton.

Captain Juan Ruiz and his 55 crew remained aboard Balmes to continue fighting the fire and try to save their ship.

The fire penetrated the timber bulkhead between the cargo hold and the stokehold, but Balmes' engine room crew managed to keep steam up to keep the ship under way.

They had her refitted with her passenger accommodation removed and her cargo capacity increased, and renamed her Ramón Alonso R.. By 1934 her call sign was EABX.

[10] In 1938, during the Spanish Civil War, Nationalist insurgents gained control of the ship and operated her under the names Ramoni and Vietri.