The steel-hulled Servia, 7392 tons, was built for the Cunard Line by J & G Thomson of Glasgow in 1881. Ordered to counter the threat of Inman's new City of Rome, she was designed for comfort rather than speed although she could manage over 17 knots at full steam. One of the first ships to be constructed with a cellular double bottom, she was the first ocean liner to be lit throughout by electricity. Measuring 515 feet in length and 52 feet in beam, she carried 480 First Class passengers and a further 750 Steerage. A reliable and popular ship with the travelling public, she ended her career as a troop transport during the Boer War in 1900 and was sold for breaking up in 1901.