tonnage under deck 5,896 Polonia was a passenger steamship that was built in Scotland in 1910, originally named Kursk and was registered in the Russian Empire.

The Danish East Asiatic Company ordered the ship from Barclay, Curle & Co Ltd of Glasgow.

The engines were fed by six 215 lbf/in2 single-ended boilers with a total heating surface of 15,114 square feet (1,404 m2).

After the October Revolution, the UK Shipping Controller chartered her and placed her under Cunard Line management.

Gdynia America Line rapidly modernised, taking delivery of the new motor ships Piłsudski in 1935 and Batory in 1936 for its premier transatlantic service.