Originally commissioned as USS Grosser Kurfürst, the ship was renamed Aeolus — after the god of wind in Greek mythology — while undergoing repairs and conversion at a US Navy yard.

Grosser Kurfürst was a steel-hulled, twin-screw, passenger-and-cargo steamship launched on 2 December 1899 at Danzig, Germany (now Gdańsk, Poland), by the shipbuilding firm of F. Schichau for the North German Lloyd.

US Customs agents boarded Grosser Kurfürst in the port of New York, along with 30 other German and Austro-Hungarian vessels, and sent their crews to an internment camp on Ellis Island.

While the ship was undergoing the repairs and alterations necessitated by the German sabotage and in light of her expected role carrying troops across the Atlantic, General Order No.

While the signing of the armistice of 11 November 1918 signalled the end of hostilities — an occasion that found the ship en route from St. Nazaire to Newport News — it only meant the beginning of the task of returning American troops from "over there."

Commencing her last voyage from Brest on 26 August 1919, Aeolus reached New York City on 5 September and was immediately detached from the Cruiser and Transport Force.

Decommissioned at Newport News on 22 September 1919 and turned over to the United States Shipping Board, Aeolus was presumably struck simultaneously from the Navy list.

[5] Remodelled quarters, an extensive refrigeration system to preserve cargoes of frozen meats as well as the food to be consumed during the voyage, and the conversion of the ship from coal to oil fuel, all helped to make Aeolus one of the best-equipped liners afloat.

[5] Resplendent in her new livery — a battle gray hull with a white superstructure — Aeolus left Baltimore on 20 November 1920 and proceeded to New York City where, shortly thereafter, she was turned over to her operators, the Munson Steamship Line.

[citation needed] Aeolus sailed under the Munson Line's house flag, carrying passengers and freight to and from South American ports until the summer of 1922.

After being thoroughly reconditioned for her new operators, the liner sailed on 11 September 1922 for her maiden voyage under her new name, bound for Honolulu, Hawaii, in a new dazzling white paint scheme.