Completed in June 1921 as motor merchant Somersetshire for Bibby Brothers & Co, Liverpool. 1927 converted to a troopship with accommodation for 1300 troops. In October 1927 the ship sailed to China and from January to May 1928 she transported troops to Karachi and was laid up in Dartmouth thereafter. During another voyage to China in 1931, influenza broke out which affected 300 person but fortunately there were no deaths. In September 1939, the Somersetshire was requisitioned and converted into HM Hospital Ship No.25 with 507 beds, 118 medical staff and 171 crew members.