Built by W. Cramp & Sons of Philadelphia, Finland was launched in 1902,
and made her maiden voyage (New York-Antwerp) for Red Star, under
American flag, on 4 October 1902. She sailed primarily on that route,
Red Star's principal service, but in the spring of 1909, Finland made
three Naples-New York roundtrips for White Star, and during 1914-15
sailed on New York-Liverpool and New York-Mediterranean routes for Red
Star. Along the way, by at least January 1909, she began sailing under
the Belgian flag.
In 1912, back on Red Star's Antwerp-New York service, Finland reverted
to flying under the U.S. flag. In April 1915, she was chartered to
Panama Pacific for six months, on a New York-Panama Canal-San Francisco
route. She returned to IMM service -- International Mercantile Marine
Co. owned Red Star, White Star and a number of other lines -- and was
placed on the American Line's New York-London and New York-Liverpool
services until she was taken over as a U.S. troopship in 1917. Although
she was torpedoed off France in 1917, Finland survived both that attack
and the rest of the war, and returned to service in 1920. She ran on
Red Star's Antwerp-New York route and American's New York-Plymouth-Hamburg
route before being sold to Panama Pacific in November 1923. Finland was
scrapped in 1928.
