She was built as an ocean liner for Greek owners, but within months of being completed she was converted into an armed merchant cruiser for the Royal Hellenic Navy.

Sir James Laing & Sons built Macedonia at Deptford in Sunderland, County Durham, as yard number 631.

[2] Macedonia had twin screws, each driven by a quadruple expansion engine built by George Clark, Ltd of Sunderland.

[3] Macedonia was similar in size to Themistocles (1907) and Athinai (1908), both of which belonged to the rival Hellenic Transatlantic Steam Navigation Company.

On 27 November 1912 she took part in a successful amphibious operation to land troops on Chios in the eastern Aegean, capturing the island from the Ottoman Empire.

[3] On 14 January 1913 the Ottoman cruiser Hamidiye slipped through the Greek naval blockade of the Dardanelles, and started raiding in the Aegean.

[3] Macedonia's commander, Captain 2nd Class P Tsoukalis, ordered his crew to scuttle her by opening her Kingston valves.

The Turkish commander, Rauf Orbay, concluded that his attack had neutralised Macedonia, and at 1325 hrs Hamidiye sailed away.

It bought Macedonia for three million guilders and had her towed to Rotterdam, where the Machinefabriek voorheen onder de firma B. Wilton repaired her.

[1][10] Lloyd Latino, an Italian subsidiary of the French Société Générale de Transports Maritimes, bought Macedonia and had her restored to passenger service.

Her outward voyages also included calls at Valencia and Almeria in Spain and optionally at Dakar in French West Africa.