She was completed in 1896 as Bangalore, but renamed Alesia in 1897 when Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) bought out her owners.

[1] In 1896 the Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft built two twin-screw steamships for Adolph Kirsten's Hamburg – Calcutta Line.

[2][3] Flensburger Schiffbau had also laid down a third ship, which Kirsten intended to call Burmah.

[2] The British authorities in India seized Alesia early in the First World War.

She was registered in 1915 in London, her UK official number was 139040, and her code letters were JLFS.