[1] Gute Hoffnungshütte of Oberhausen built her three-cylinder triple-expansion steam engine, which was rated at 126 NHP[1] and gave her a speed of 10.5 knots (19 km/h).

Later in 1927, OPDR sold Ceuta to the Koninklijke Nederlandse Stoomboot-Maatschappij (KNSM), which renamed her Ajax and registered her in Amsterdam.

On 31 July Ajax left Falmouth, Cornwall in Convoy CE 8, which reached the Thames Estuary off Southend on 5 August.

As CW 9 passed south of St Catherine's Point on the Isle of Wight, Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers and Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter aircraft attacked.

RAF Fighter Command counter-attacked,[7] but at 0910 hrs[2] two Ju 87s and a Bf 109 hit the forward part of Ajax with three bombs.