The steel-hulled ship was built by R & W Hawthorn, Leslie & Co. Ltd. of Hebburn for Frederick Leyland & Co. and launched on 25 February 1902 as Hanoverian.

[5] Hanoverian was transferred to the Dominion Line and renamed Mayflower, entering service between Liverpool and Boston in April 1903.

[2] In November 1903 she was transferred again, this time to the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company's White Star Line, and was renamed Cretic.

[2] On 5 April 1918 Cretic, Lapland, and Justicia sailed from Long Island City, New York, with the three battalions of the U.S. 308th Infantry Regiment aboard.

On Cretic, the 2,032 men of the 2nd Battalion found that there was only accommodation for 1,500, so the troops were forced to eat and sleep in shifts until arriving at Liverpool on 19 April.