[5] Persic set out on her maiden voyage on 7 December 1899, as the Boer War was underway by this time, she carried 500 troops for South Africa.

[6] Part of the September–November journey, Australian artists Hugh Ramsay and George Washington Lambert travelled on the Persic from Sydney to London.

[8] Artist G. W. Lambert who travelled the year before on the Persic also served as an illustrator in Ogilvie's 1898 work Fair girls and gray horses.

[17][5][1] In mid-1918 sailing from Canada as part of an escort going to England, zig-zagging whilst trying to avoid a torpedo, the Persic ran into her sister ship the Runic with no serious damage.

[18][19] On 12 September 1918, Persic was sailing in a convoy carrying 2,800 American troops when she was torpedoed by the German U-boat SM UB-87 near the Isles of Scilly.

[20][5] In July 1919, Persic was returned to commercial service, and the following year underwent a refit to overhaul and modernise her accommodation, which was changed to carry 260 passengers in Second class.