Trondhjemsfjord was a cargo passenger steamship built in 1911 by the Northumberland Shipbuilding Co of Newcastle for Furness, Withy & Co of West Hartlepool.

[3][2][4] After successful completion of sea trials on 5 March 1912, during which the vessel was able to attain speed of 11.75 knots (13.52 mph; 21.76 km/h), she was delivered on the same day to her owners, Furness, Withy & Co.

The vessel then sailed to Melbourne where she unloaded the remaining cargo, continued to Newcastle to load 6,250 tons of coal and departed on 10 October to Sourabaya and Manila.

Upon arrival in England, Cotswold Range was chartered for New York-China trip and left Fowey on 18 March with a cargo of China clay and reached Philadelphia on 8 April.

The ship left New York on 23 May, transited through the Suez Canal on 17 June, called at Sabang and finally arrived at Amoy on 25 July.

[14] Upon loading her cargo, including 18,453 sacks of linseed cake and lumber, Cotswold Range left for Rotterdam via Port Arthur and reached it on 30 January 1914.

The ship encountered some rough weather on her way, coming into port five days late, and in addition, one sailor was killed and six other injured on 26 February, when a giant wave swept over the vessel during gale knocking the man down and breaking his neck.

During her first trip on the new route, Cotswold Range brought 5,270 tons of China clay to Boston from Fowey on 9 May and subsequently sailed to Montreal in ballast arriving there on 23 May.

She left New York on her return journey on 27 January carrying general cargo such as butter, flour, leather, coffee etc., and had to stop at Kirkwall for inspection by British authorities before arriving at Trondheim on 25 February.

[20] The captain showed the papers including a letter issued by the British consulate in New York certifying that the ship carried no contraband.

Captain Bang went on board the submarine and presented all the papers, including the Bill of Sale showing the vessel passed into Norwegian registry on 23 December 1914.

[20] The submarine's commander informed captain Bang that according to his instructions, any ship that switched registry at least 30 days prior to the outbreak of the war have to be considered as belonging to the nation she was acquired from.