[5] On completion of a major refit 19 January 1929 for Dollar Line's around the world service the ship's tonnage is noted as being 14,328 GRT with a "sea speed" of 18 knots (21 mph; 33 km/h) indicating possible propulsion upgrades.

[11] Electrical power was provided by three General Electric 25 kilowatt direct connected generators located in a recess aft of the main engine room and refrigeration by a carbonic anhydride plant, built by the British company J & E Hall, located below and aft of the engine room in a space between the shafts cooling about 9,000 cubic feet (254.9 m3) of space and capable of producing up to 560 pounds (254.0 kg) of ice.

[13] First-class passengers had quarters in the midship house on the bridge and shelter decks with access to a saloon lighted by a skylight and dining room.

[14] Manchuria departed New York on 9 June 1904 for San Francisco to begin Pacific service with sister ship Mongolia.

[1] In connection with the United States recently having acquired territories of the Philippines, Guam and Hawaii and President Theodore Roosevelt wanted to show American influence in the area.

[15] As of 1907 Pacific Mail shows Manchuria, along with Mongolia, as being chartered vessels, though the company had paid for both Korea and Siberia, thus adding to an operating deficit for the period.

[16] Additional problems had fallen on the company, the disruption of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, political instability in Central American republics and specific "disasters" to Manchuria and Mongolia in Hawaiian waters.

[19] Damage progressed even as the efforts to pull the ship off the reef continued over a period of days with mention "boilers are starting from their foundation and may go out of commission" in a communication dated 23 August.

The 1906 Valparaíso earthquake had occurred hours earlier and mariners' descriptions of a "tremor" spreading on the Pacific's bed and "disturbing currents" at the time of the strandings would now be recognized as indications of tsunami effects.

[6][note 4] At 19:16 on 13 June 1917, Manchuria was standing out of New York Harbor in a thick fog when she collided with the United States Navy monitor USS Amphitrite, suffering damage below the waterline.

[32] Manchuria departed New York with a convoy on 30 April with the 18th Field Artillery and the 153d and 154th Infantry Battalions embarked for Europe arriving in Saint-Nazaire, France, on 13 May to debark her passengers.

On 3 November 1928 Dollar delivered the ship to Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company for a major refit and passenger space renovation that was completed 19 January 1929.

[36] President Johnson was being featured in the first class only around the world service "as you please" with 1930 fares as low as $1,110 or $1,370 with private bath and tickets good for two years for visiting twenty-two ports in fourteen countries.

The ship, to depart 4 February from New York, is described as a "floating campus" with class rooms, library, athletic facilities with student fares as low as $1,325 including tuition and shore trips.

[43][44][note 8] On 31 January 1942 the ship left San Francisco transporting the garrison for Christmas Island, code named BIRCH, that was a critical link in the South Pacific lines of communication to Australia.

[45][46] President Johnson continued transporting troops for the next two years in support of the amphibious operations which had penetrated by July 1945 to the Japanese home islands.

With stops at Eniwetok and Guam, Marshalls; Ulithi, Carolines; Peleliu, Palaus; and Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, long behind her, President Johnson returned to San Francisco 14 January 1946 to end her World War II service as a troop transport.