by Gdynia America Line, at first with a mixed Polish and Danish crew, but from 1931 her crew was entirely Polish. She served on the Gdynia – Copenhagen – Halifax route, and also made short tourist cruises. In 1935 Kościuszkos tonnages were re-assessed as and and her old code letters were replaced with the radio call sign SPEA. By 1938 she was equipped with wireless direction finding navigation equipment. The delivery of the modern motor ships in 1935 and in 1936 displaced Kościuszko from transatlantic service. She started to work the Constanţa – Haifa route in 1935 and a route to South America in October 1936. The delivery of the smaller motor ships and in 1939 made Kościuszko surplus to requirements so early in 1939 Gdynia America Line withdrew her from service. World War II At the outbreak of World War II the Polish Navy requisitioned Kościuszko and evacuated her to Dartmouth in the UK before the Invasion of Poland. On 10 November 1939 she was commissioned as ORP Gdynia. Initially she was a troopship, but she was considered unsuitable for service at sea and served instead as a base ship in the UK. She housed a canteen, a hospital, a Naval NCO school and several other offices. In her naval service the ship was visited by, among others, Winston Churchill and King George VI. During a German air raid on Denver, Norfolk, on 25 September, she was hit by two aerial bombs, but swift action by the crew prevented the ship from catching fire. On 30 June 1941 she was decommissioned, restored to Gdynia America Line and reverted to her name Kościuszko. She was placed under the management of the British Lamport and Holt Line, but was crewed entirely by Poles except for a Lamport and Holt liaison officer. She served as a troopship in the Indian Ocean and Malaya. Japanese aircraft attacked her several times. In 1943 a torpedo hit her but did not explode. She was transferred to the Mediterranean and took part in the Allied Invasion of Sicily. Then she returned to Indian Ocean, this time as a part of United Maritime Authority. After World War II In 1945 the UK repatriated Batory to Poland but the crews of Kościuszko and another Gdynia America Line ship, Pułaski, refused to be repatriated. All crew members of both ships signed UK articles and the ships were transferred from