[2] Afric was the first of five Jubillee-class ships built by White Star Line for their new service to Australia, the others were Medic, Persic, Runic and Suevic.

[2][3] Afric made her maiden voyage on 8 February 1899, between Liverpool and New York; this was considered a test run, and when she returned she underwent further work to prepare her for her intended career on the Australia service.

[2] Following the conclusion of the war, Afric settled into the routine of normal peacetime service, which was mostly uneventful, except for one incident in November 1913 when she ran aground and became stuck on a sandbank in the River Mersey whilst leaving the Canada Dock at Liverpool.

After several unsuccessful attempts to free her, she was eventually pulled off the sandbank by tugs at high tide after her cargo had been removed by barges to lighten the ship.

She completed six troopship voyages up to November 1916,[5] however on 12 February 1917 she was sunk in the English Channel after being torpedoed by the German submarine SM UC-66, whilst sailing outbound between Liverpool and Plymouth, 12 miles (19 km) south south-west of the Eddystone Lighthouse,[6] there were 145 survivors, but 22 people lost their lives.