Scrapped 1956
Specifications
9,542 gross tons, hp. 6,000
Length 482.3ft x beam 57.3ft, depth 35 ft. 10 ins.
One funnel
Four masts
Single screw
Speed 15 knots
Accommodation for 295-1st class passengers.
Built by Harland & Wolff, Belfast for the Bibby Line.
Her construction was delayed by the war, and she wasn't launched until Jan 1917. Immediately taken over under the Liner Requisition Scheme, she sailed in August from Birkenhead for Rangoon. In 1918 she repatriated French prisoners of war and Belgian refugees and in 1919 was used as a troopship between Antwerp / Plymouth and Australia and then UK - USA with returning troops.
1920 - Released to Bibby Line and refitted to passenger ship standards, converted from coal to oil fuel. Used on the UK - Far East passenger service and also for trooping work.
1930 - converted to a permanent troopship.
Nov 1939 - carried the first contingent of the Indian Expeditionary Force from Bombay to Marseilles.
June 1944 - acted as commodore ship for the Juno Beach D-Day landings.
1945 - Converted to a store and supply ship for the Pacific fleet. Used at Hong Kong to restore power supplies after the war ended and then assisted with the repatriation of sick troops.
1946 - reconditioned into a peacetime troopship and mainmast removed. Trooped to India , Cyprus and the Far East.
1956 - replaced by Oxfordshire and scrapped at Barrow in Furness.