The Marama before the First World War

Unlike the two-funneled, turbine-powered Maheno, the Marama (built two years later in 1907) reverted to conventional steam engine propulsion and to a single-funnel profile.

Before being converted into a hospital ship during the First World War the ship spent most of its career on the trans-Pacific Royal Mail service linking Australasian ports with San Francisco and (from 1911) Vancouver.