It was agreed that she was to be painted white with green boot topping, the work was undertaken by Vickers Armstrong for a consideration of £63. However the charter was not taken up because the sleeping accommodation on board the Ben-my-Chree was considered insufficient for the would-be charterers. The Steam Packet Board decided to retain the colour scheme, as it was believed that white and green would have a definitive advertising value when the vessel was in the Mersey. The Lady of Mann was painted white for the 1933 season and the Mona's Queen was launched as a white ship in 1934. This scheme proved very popular with passengers and complemented the luxurious interiors of all three ships. The Ben-my-Chree was the first of three similar vessels built for the company between the wars. The second vessel was the Barrow-built Centenary Steamer, Lady of Mann, and the trio was completed when the Mona's Queen entered service in 1934. All three ships typified the style and elegance which was associated with the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company during the 1930s, and were highly regarded by both their passengers and crew. War service Painted in naval grey in September 1939, the Ben-my-Chree was requisitioned and served as a personnel ship until she was released from service in May 1946. Under the command of her Master Captain G. Woods, "The Ben served alongside seven of her Steam Packet sisters during Operation Dynamo. She made three trips to Dunkirk, and rescued a total of 4,095 troops from the stricken port. Her only mishap was when she sustained damage after she and another ship collided soon after leaving Folkestone for Dunkirk, and this effectively finished her part in the Dunkirk Evacuation. Later she was engaged on trooping and transport duties between Iceland, the Faroes and Britain, plying from Greenock and Invergordon, usually in the company of her sister Lady of Mann, until the beginning of 1944. During this stage of her service, she gained a reputation as a very fine sea boat, and was sometimes able to keep her station while naval vessels around her were falling back in heavy weather. "The Ben made one trip from Skale Fjord in the Faroes to Iceland in May 1941, the week that the British battlecruiser was sunk in the area by the . Most of her war service had seen her based in Scottish ports which