[6] She entered trooping service in July 1956, shortly before the Suez Crisis and from then until October 1962 was continuously employed in reinforcing and relieving British garrisons in the Far and Middle East.

[4] The Nevasa was owned by the British India Steam Navigation Company (BI) and as originally built had a gross registered tonnage of 20,527 tons.

[8] New features for a troopship included Denny-Brown stabilisers to reduce rolling in rough seas and bunks rather than hammocks for the troops.

[5] Nevasa was powered by two sets of three-stage Parsons (Pametrada) steam turbines driving twin screw propellers with a service speed of 17 knots.

The following month the ship should have sailed on her first voyage to the Far East however it was delayed because of the Suez Crisis and finally departed Southampton on 16 October.

[13] As a trooper she made regular voyages from Southampton to Hong Kong via the Suez Canal and Singapore and back[14] completing on average four round trips a year.

Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus, Aden, Colombo, and Penang were often intermediate ports of call to pick up and set down troops.

[17] The ending of National Service and the British Government's decision in 1962 to abandon trooping by sea in favour of more cost-effective air transport made her redundant.

[4] After her last voyage she sailed to Falmouth in Cornwall and was laid up in the River Fal[4] whilst BI decided what to do with a 7-year-old ship that was effectively obsolete for the role she was designed for.

The ship was segregated, Cabin class passengers had entirely separate accommodation, with their own sun and recreation decks, swimming pool, public rooms, bars, and dining saloon.

[20] The ship's company consisted of 376 Officers and Ratings including a Director of Education with two deputies, two surgeons, two nursing sisters, seven matrons, one firemaster, five master at arms and two bank representatives.

[25] After undergoing sea trials in September 1965, she sailed from Falmouth on 17 October 1965 with guests for a shakedown cruise[10] and was positioned in Southampton for her first voyage as a School Ship.

Sometimes other British ports would be used depending on where the most students were coming from, as often the ship had been block booked by a certain educational regional authority.

As the Suez Canal was once again closed[13] the ship's route for the six-week journey from Malta was via Dakar and Cape Town, crossing the Indian Ocean to the Sunda Strait between the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra to her final destination: the Port of Kaohsiung, in south-west Taiwan, on the northern South China Sea arriving 29 March 1975.