Although built as a civilian ship, Himalaya was designed to be suitable for conversion to an auxiliary cruiser if required.

The first Himalaya was completed in 1854, spent most of her career in the Royal Navy as a troop ship and then a coal hulk, and was sunk by enemy action in 1940.

[5] In the same year Harland & Wolff in Belfast launched two sister ships of the same class, Oceana and Arcadia, that were completed in 1888.

[6][7] The "Jubilee boats" from Harland & Wolff had the same beam as those from Caird, but were 3 ft (0.9 m) longer and their steam engines were rated at 883 rather than 849 NHP.

[11] Each ship had a single screw, driven by a three-cylinder triple expansion engine rated at 1,356 NHP[12] or 10,000 IHP and giving a cruising speed of 17+1⁄2 knots (32.4 km/h).

[15] Her main dining saloon was 60 ft (18 m) long, extended the entire width of the ship, and could seat 206 diners.

[17] On 30 July 1892 Himalaya began a trial voyage across the English Channel from Tilbury to Cherbourg, carrying 150 guests.

At Melbourne she embarked a team of 14 officers and men from Sir William Clarke's a battery of the Victorian Horse Artillery, which was to take part in the Royal Tournament at Islington in London and mounted shooting events at Bisley in Surrey.

In April and May 1893 Australia set a new speed record, completing her voyage from Tilbury to Adelaide in 26 days and 16 hours.

[9] In the small hours of 20 June 1904 Australia ran aground on Corsair Rock off Point Nepean while approaching Port Phillip.

She sailed via St Vincent and Saint Helena to Simon's Town Naval Base in South Africa, where she arrived on 16 May.

She patrolled the coast, her seaplane provided aerial reconnaissance, and her 6-inch guns contributed to the bombardment of German positions ashore.

As a former passenger ship, Himalaya was also well-equipped to carry food and bake bread for British and Empire forces ashore.

[31] Before dawn on 15 August 1916 a Royal Navy flotilla attacked Bagamoyo, bombarding German positions there and landing more than 300 troops and armed sailors to capture the town.

The flotilla included the auxiliary ship HMS Manica, which carried both a kite balloon and a seaplane.

But Manica's seaplane suffered an engine fault, so at 0553 hrs Himalaya left Zanzibar and steamed for Bagamoyo.

At 0725 hrs she stopped to launch her seaplane, which flew ahead the last 20 nautical miles (37 km) or so to Bagamoyo, dropped bombs on German positions, and then provided aerial observations to direct the naval bombardment.

On 13 September Himalaya returned to Mikindani carrying Royal Marines, who went ashore by boat and took the town without resistance.

[31][33] From 21 November until 5 December 1916 Himalaya shuttled troops from Zanzibar, Kilindini and Tanga to Kilwa Kisiwani and Dar es Salaam, including men of the King's African Rifles.

[31] On the morning of 6 January 1917 a Short Brothers seaplane took off from Himalaya for a reconnaissance flight over the Rufiji Delta.

The aircraft failed to return, so Himalaya embarked a replacement seaplane and aircrew from HMS Manica.

[31] The missing seaplane had suffered engine failure so its pilot, Flt Lt Edwin Moon, made a forced landing in a creek.

He and his observer, Cdr the Hon Richard Bridgeman, DSO, were unable to repair the aircraft, so they burned it and set off for the coast.

[31] Between August 1917 and January 1918 Himalaya made three round trips between South Africa and Sierra Leone.

[31][35][36] A midshipman was taken ill in 1916,[31] died ashore in hospital and is buried in Dar es Salaam war cemetery.