But the company lost several ships in First World War, so after the Armistice it was able to restore only a monthly service on the route.

[5][6] Barclay Curle & Company in Glasgow built Cathay and Comorin, and launched them on the same day, 31 October 1924.

[5] One of Inchcape's daughters, the Honourable Elsie Mackay, supervised the interior décor of the passenger accommodation.

Within months of entering service, Cathay suffered a leak from her bunkers, causing heavy fuel oil to damage her cargo of meat.

Cathay's code letters KSHB were replaced with the new maritime call sign GCDF.

[13] On 14 December 1933 Cathay lost her starboard propeller while trying to make up time between Colombo and Fremantle.

[5] From November 1939 Cathay patrolled in the Indian Ocean, calling at Bombay, Aden, Colombo, Trincomalee, Durban and Mombasa.

She undertook patrols, and escorted convoys between Freetown in Sierra Leone and either Liverpool or the Clyde.

Also in the convoy was the troop ship Anselm, but shortly after departure the latter returned to port for repairs.

[21] Anselm later resumed her voyage, escorted by the survey vessel HMS Challenger and Flower-class corvettes Lavender, Petunia and Starwort.

On 5 July the German submarine U-96 torpedoed Anselm in the South Atlantic, about 300 nautical miles (560 km) north of the Azores.

[18] Cathay's last convoy as an armed merchant cruiser escort was WS 12 from the Clyde to Freetown in October 1941.

She then crossed the Atlantic from Freetown via Halifax, Nova Scotia, to New York, where she arrived on 14 October.

She entered service again on 30 April 1942,[5] leaving New York for Halifax, NS, where she joined eastbound Convoy NA 8.

[25] This was the landing force to launch Operation Torch, Allied invasion of French North Africa.

[5] At 1:30 pm on 11 November 1942, as Cathay was landing troops at Bougie, when German aircraft bombed her.

[26] At first some of the survivors were billeted aboard the British Indian SN Co ship Karanja, until enemy aircraft sank her too on 12 November.