The ship was ordered by the Imperial Russian Government, but work was halted due to the outbreak of
the Revolution in February 1917. She was built as
yard number 519 by
Barclay, Curle & Co. Ltd,
Glasgow,
Renfrewshire,
United Kingdom. She was bought by the
Glen Line in 1918 and work resumed. She was launched as
Glenapp on 16 March 1918 and completed in September. Her port of registry was Glasgow and the United Kingdom Official Number 141887 was allocated, She was initially used as a
troopship, bringing American soldiers to serve in France.
Elder Dempster Shipping Ltd had lost a number of ships during
World War I, and needed two passenger ships to bring its fleet up to strength.
Glenapp was purchased from Glen Line in 1920 and renamed
Aba. She was rebuilt by Harland & Wolff. Following the rebuild, she had capacity for 220 first class, 105 second class and 35 third class passengers. Her draught had been reduced to . She was now assessed at , . Her port of registry was changed to
Liverpool,
Lancashire. She made her maiden voyage for Elder Dempster on 16 November, sailing from Liverpool for West Africa. In August 1922,
Aba received a distress signal from the Portuguese
destroyer , which had suffered an engine failure. In 1934, her Code Letters were changed to GDSW.
Aba and , a passenger motor vessel built for Elder Dempster in 1922 were deemed a success. In 1926, Elder Dempster placed an order for two more motor passenger vessels, the and . On 21 January 1926,
Aba suffered a broken crankshaft in one of her engines when she was off Las Palmas. She continued her voyage on one engine at a speed of . The German
tug was dispatched to assist.
Aba was taken under tow, and arrived at Liverpool on 26 January. On 7 December 1929, her steering gear became disabled when she was west of
Ouessant,
Finistère, France whilst bound for West Africa. The German tugs and were sent to her assistance. By 10 December, she was making for
Queenstown, County Cork, Ireland at . She was towed in to Queenstown by the Dutch tug
Zwarte Zee on 13 December. Following repairs, she was scheduled to resume her voyage on 18 December. In May 1937,
Aba brough the
Alake of Abeokuta to the United Kingdom from Nigeria. He was to attend the
Coronation of King George VI.
Aba was requisitioned by the
Admiralty in September 1939 for use as a
hospital ship. was one of the ships which went to the aid of
Aba. Her director layer,
Alfred Sephton was awarded a posthumous
Victoria Cross for his actions in repelling the attack.
Aba was severely damaged in April 1944 during an air raid on
Naples,
Italy. Following repairs, she was used as a troopship.
Aba was returned to her owners on 7 January 1947. She was righted on 8 June 1948. Declared a
constructive total loss, she arrived at
Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire on 4 October 1948 for scrapping by T. W. Ward Ltd. ==References==