The iron steamer Elysia was built for the British-owned Anchor Line by John Elder & Co. of Glasgow in 1873. Registered at 2,733 tons, she measured 351 feet in length with a 35 foot beam, and could steam at 13 knots under full power. She left Glasgow on her maiden voyage to New York on 11 October 1873 and completed 21 round trips before being transferred to Anchor's London to New York service in 1876. Withdrawn in 1881 after 38 round trips, she was then put to work on Glasgow to India runs but soon returned to the North Atlantic on several routes including London to Boston via Halifax, Nova Scotia. between 1886 and 1897 she did regular sailings from various Mediterranean ports to New York, mostly with emigrant traffic, and was broken up in Italy in June 1898.