From 1940 she served as a troop ship until she was sunk on 14 November 1942, on the Algerian coast during a German air raid.

The steamship Narkunda was ordered in 1913 and built by Harland & Wolff in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Her sister ship, also commissioned in 1913, the SS Naldera (15,825 GRT), was built by Caird & Company in Greenock, Scotland, and was launched in December 1917.

[3] After the outbreak of the Second World War, the Narkunda initially continued its passenger service and called at Shanghai and Cape Town, among other places, until 1940 when it was taken over by the British Admiralty when Troopship and Auxiliary Cruiser were drafted.

[3] After landing Allied troops in the Algerian port city of Bougie, the Narkunda under the command of Captain L. Parfitt, DSC, was on her return journey to Great Britain.