sounding by 1933. In 1916 Ceramic took the Territorial Army 25th (County of London) Cyclist Battalion to India, leaving Devonport on 3 February and reaching Bombay on 25 February. Ceramic survived a number of attacks. In May 1916 she was in the Mediterranean carrying 2,500 troops when two torpedoes from an unidentified attacker missed her. On 9 June 1917 she was in the English Channel when again a torpedo from an unidentified attacker missed her. On 21 July in the North Atlantic off the Canary Islands a surfaced U-boat chased her for 40 minutes. Ceramic fired on the U-boat with her 4.7 inch stern guns and outran her attacker. In May 1917 Ceramic was transferred from Australian control to the UK Shipping Controller under the Liner Requisition Scheme. In 1919 she was returned to White Star Line and in 1920 Harland and Wolff refitted her as a civilian liner. The refit slightly increased her tonnage to . She resumed civilian service on 18 November 1920 when she left Liverpool for Glasgow and Sydney. Ceramic ran aground on the River Clyde at Glasgow on 12 January 1925. She later was refloated and dry docked. On 18 December 1930, Ceramic collided with the Pacific Steam Navigation Company's cargo motor ship Laguna in the River Thames near Gravesend. Both ships were slightly damaged. Shaw, Savill and Albion peacetime service In 1934 White Star merged with Cunard. Ceramic was sold to Shaw, Savill and Albion but kept the same route and name. She started her first voyage for her new owner on 25 August, when she left Liverpool for Brisbane. Also in 1934, her code letters and three-letter wireless call sign were superseded by the four-letter call sign GLST. In June 1936 Harland and Wolff's yard in Govan, Glasgow began a refit to modernise Ceramic. Her forward bridge deck was glassed in, a verandah café was added aft. The refit changed her tonnages to and . Despite being 23 years old, she remained a popular ship on the route between the UK and Australia. As refitted, she had 36 corrugated furnaces with a combined grate area of . The furnaces heated six double-ended boilers with a combined heating surface of . The boilers supplied steam at 215 lbf/in2 to Ceramics two triple-expansion engines. Her three engines were now rated at 1,692 NHP. Ceramic resumed service on 15 August 1936. Second World War service When