at Trinidad, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town and Diego-Suarez. On 8 January 1944 she was involved in a minor collision with the American tanker Hat Creek in New York harbour. During the World War II, she travelled and carried over 340,000 troops. Mauretania was not designed to be an exceptionally fast ship and during six years of war duty, her engines had received little attention but still achieved a turn of speed in 1945 making the passage from Bombay to the UK via the Cape at an average speed of . After the war's end, Mauretania made several further voyages for the government repatriating troops. This mainly took the ship to Canada and Singapore. In addition, she made at least one voyage from New Zealand via Australia and South Africa to Liverpool. Women and children were crammed ten to a cabin in the bunks used by the troops, while the men were in "dormitories" for sixty, sleeping in hammocks. On that voyage she sailed from Cape Town on 10 September 1945. She was delayed for three days off Liverpool by strong winds, and finally docked on 25 September. Mauretania took the first dedicated sailing of British war brides and their children being patriated to Canada to join their husbands, landing at Pier 21 at Halifax, Nova Scotia in February 1946. On 2 September 1946 she returned to Liverpool, was released from government service and immediately went into Gladstone Dock to be reconditioned by Cammell Laird & Co. for return to Cunard-White Star service. Post-war (1947–1962) After a complete overhaul and refurbishment of the interior, Mauretania made her first post-war Atlantic crossing to New York City, departing on 26 April 1947. After using Liverpool as her home port for the first two voyages she was thereafter based at Southampton. Here she acted as the relief ship for and , standing in on the transatlantic service when one of them was undergoing maintenance. By this time the London to New York service had been discontinued as , with which she had operated the service was in no fit state to resume passenger duties, while the other partner, , had been transferred to a new Liverpool to New York service. Later that year she began to be used as a cruise ship during the winter months to the West Indies and the Caribbean. These so-called 'dollar earning cruises' assisted the shattered British economy.