She was built in 1894 by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Govan, United Kingdom, as Arundel Castle and later went through numerous ownership and name changes, including coming into the hands of the Russian American Line.

[3] In late 1906 and early 1907, she carried the Danish princes Valdemar and George on their tour of the Far East, travelling with EAC founder Hans Niels Andersen.

[6] In April 1912, Birma was sailing from New York to Rotterdam and was fitted with a De Forest Wireless Telegraphy system.

Birma's captain, informed of the situation, relayed a message to the stricken vessel that his ship was 100 nautical miles away and expecting to arrive at the given location at approximately 6:30 am on 15 April.

As a result, Birma returned to her planned course and on 15 April, passed what her crew believed to be the iceberg that sank Titanic and photographed it.

[9] The crew held a memorial service on board and flew the flags of the United States and Russia at half-mast.

[7] Copies of telegrams sent by Titanic that were received by Birma relating to the sinking were later placed in The National Archives in the United Kingdom.

[2] The maiden voyage under the new name was planned for later in the year but the ship was impounded in Kiel, Germany, for non-payment of $200,000 worth of repair bills.