She was hired by the Royal Navy in 1940 for use as an ocean boarding vessel but was sunk in an air raid London in September 1940.

She was salvaged, rebuilt as a cargo ship, passed to the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) and renamed Empire Explorer.

The ship was built in 1925 by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd, Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland.

[2] On 3 February 1932, Inanda was on a voyage from London to the West Indies when she suffered a broken propeller.

[7] In August 1936, Inanda brought George "Dod" Orsborne and his brother James back to the United Kingdom from Georgetown, British Guiana, where they had taken the Grimsby trawler Girl Pat without authority.

[11] She then sailed to Southend to join Convoy FN 46,[10] which departed on 1 December and arrived at Methil, Fife the next day.

She was carrying a cargo of sulphite as well as a number of passengers and her captain was the convoy's Vice Commodore.

[15] Inanda departed from Liverpool on 29 March as a member of Convoy OB 119, which dispersed at sea on 1 April.

Inanda was bound for London,[19] which was reached by leaving the convoy and sailing to the Methil Roads, where she arrived on 24 August.

[21] Empire Explorer was a member of Convoy FN 632, which departed from Southend on 15 February 1942 and arrived at Methil two days later.

[24] She left the convoy at Loch Ewe and sailed to Saint Kitts, arriving on 17 March.

At 02:47 German time on 9 July, Empire Explorer was torpedoed, shelled and sunk at 11°40′N 60°55′W / 11.667°N 60.917°W / 11.667; -60.917 by U-575, which was in the command of Günther Heydemann.

[27] Those killed serving on Inanda and Empire Explorer are commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial, London.

[28][29] Inanda has been depicted on postage stamps issued by Barbados and Saint Kitts and Nevis.