In 1923, she was renamed Venezuela and transferred to La Veloce for South American service, but reverted to NGI control in 1924.

SS Maritzburg, an ocean liner with a 6,847 gross register tons (GRT),[3] was built in 1904 by Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth and Company of Newcastle upon Tyne, England.

[2] Sailing for the Bucknall Line during her first year of operation, the liner was sold in 1905 to Lloyd Italiano and renamed SS Mendoza.

[7] Before her 1 February 1916 arrival in New York, Caserta had been armed with two 3-inch (76 mm) guns mounted on her after deckhouse, and manned by two gunners mates and two assistants.

The gunners practiced from Gibraltar to the Azores by shooting at submarine-like targets—butter barrels, which had been equipped with a stick, painted gray, and tossed from the bow of the ship.

[11] Caserta departed New York 10 May 1918 on the first of five convoy voyages to Europe before the war's end—carrying elements of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division's 47th Infantry Regiment, who called her a "cattle boat"—and accompanied by U.S. Navy transports President Lincoln, Covington, Rijndam, UK troopship Dwinsk, and Italian steamship Dante Alighieri.

[14] Caserta's next convoy left Newport News on 23 June and consisted of the Italian steamship Duca d'Aosta, Re d'Italia, the French Patria, and American transports Pocahontas and Susquehanna.

[16] The Italian liner began her next crossing on 30 August when she sailed from Newport News with USS America and Duca d'Aosta to join the New York contingent of Kroonland Susquehanna, Harrisburg and Plattsburg.

[19] Cruisers Seattle and Rochester, and destroyers Murray and Fairfax served as convoy escorts for the group, which arrived in France on 20 October.

Departing from Marseille in the evening of 6 February, the transport arrived at Gibraltar three days later, where she anchored to wait for a load of coal for the journey home.

Twice-a-day servings of "spaghetti, macaroni, or noodles" were interrupted only occasionally by non-pasta meals, such as chicken in honor of Washington's Birthday, on 22 February.