SS Gothic was a cargo liner, built in 1893 at the Harland and Wolff Shipyards for the White Star Line.

On her third voyage she set a new record on the route of 37 days, 10 hours and 16 minutes between Plymouth and Wellington with an average speed of 14.16 knots (26.22 km/h; 16.30 mph).

[4] During the summer of 1902, Gothic was used to repatriate New Zealand troops from South Africa following the end of the Boer War, She picked them up at Cape Town on her normal route.

The passengers were disembarked onto a tender, by which time the fire was raging, and Gothic had to be towed to Plymouth harbour, where she was hastily beached.

Two years later, she once again transferred to the Red Star Line as Gothland, and put to use on the Rotterdam to Quebec City and Montreal route.

After the war, she underwent another refit in 1919, and was placed on the Antwerp-New York-Baltimore service until May 1921, when she made a single, and final journey for the White Star Line, still as Gothland from Naples to New York.