Section of a loaf of bread, part of a soldier's rations from the troopship HMT Dongola, 1914 (c)

Originally known as the SS Dongola, the ship was built as a P&O passenger liner and launched in 1905, serving on the company's Far East services. Between 1906 and 1914 she was regularly used by the War Office for seasonal trooping between England, India and Hong Kong with the 1st Battalion, King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) travelling home from India aboard Dongola in 1912.

In 1915, she was requisitioned as a hospital ship and, later, as a troopship, primarily transporting troops around the East African coast. After the Armistice, in 1919, she was used to repatriate deported Russians to Reval (Estonia) and bring back refugees.