Furness Bermuda Line era (1931 - 1939):

She was built by Vickers Armstrong Ltd, Walker on Tyne, England, UK. The Monarch of Bermuda was launched on the 17th March 1931 and entered service on Furness Withy's New York to Bermuda service. She served on this route from 1931 to 1939. On the 8th September 1934 the Monarch of Bermuda helped to rescue the passengers and crew of the burning Morro Castle off the New Jersey coast. The Morro Castle was a luxury liner on the New York to Havana run. 133 lives were lost from the Morro Castle. 

War Service (1939 - 1947):

From November 1939 to 1946 the Monarch of Bermuda served as a troopship. On the 10th December 1939 the Monarch of Bermuda sailed from Halifax, Canada to Greenock, Scotland carrying Canadian soldiers. These were the first Canadian soldiers to land in Britain at the start of the Second World War.  On the 14th April 1940 the Monarch of Bermuda participated in the landing of British forces at Narvik in Norway . In July 1940 she sailed in convoy from Greenock, Scotland with an escort of British and Polish warships to Halifax, Canada landing there on the 13th July 1940.This convoy was transporting priceless royal treasures from Wawel Royal Castle in Poland as well as millions of dollars of gold bullion from the Bank of England to be deposited in the Bank of Canada for safekeeping during the Second World War. On the 5th - 7th May 1942 she participated in the Allied landings against the Vichy French in Madagascar. On the 27th November 1942 she was in Liverpool to embark troops for the action against Vichy French arriving in Oran, Algeria on the 6th December 1942. On the 3rd July 1943 the Monarch of Bermuda boarded troops destined for action in Operation Husky which was the Allied invasion of Sicily and landed them at Pachini on the 17th August 1943. In 1946 she was used to transport Canadian War Brides across the North Atlantic.

At the end of the Second World War the Monarch of Bermuda was sent for refitting at the Palmer's Yard at Hebburn on Tyne in 1947 for refitting ready to resume her passenger service between New York and Bermuda. However on the 24th May 1947 while undergoing this refit she was gutted by fire. Sadly she was declared a total loss and seemed destined for scrap.

British Ministry of Transport / Shaw Savill era (1947 - 1957):

Thankfully the British Ministry of Transport decided to purchase her and rebuild her as an emigrant liner. She was moved under her own power to Southampton where she was rebuilt by Vosper Thornycroft. Her distinctive three funnels were removed and replaced with a single funnel. She was now 20,256 gross tons, 553.2 ft long and 76.7 ft wide. She was refitted to accommodate 1,600 passengers in one class. In 1949 she was renamed New Australia and Shaw Savill were contracted by the Ministry of Transport to manage and operate her on behalf of the British Government.

In the quarter of a century since the end of war (1945-70), a million people migrated from Britain for a new life in Australia. Most people went as assisted migrants, paying only ten pounds for the journey. The British migrants under this assisted passage scheme were later nicknamed "ten pound poms".

On the 15th August 1950 she made her first emigrant voyage from Southampton to Sydney. In her new role she took migrants from Britain to Australia and then sailed on to Japan from where she took troops of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force back to Britain. During her maiden voyage she lost an anchor in the Bay of Biscay.

Among the migrants on board the New Australia in 1951 was a group of 14 orphaned children sent to Australia for the Fairbridge Society. They were part of a child migration scheme made infamous later as the "Leaving of Liverpool" kids. Many had living parents but had been sent to Australia without their knowledge.

On one of its 1951 return voyages from Australia, she sailed back via Java and picked up Moluccan soldiers and their families to return them home to the Netherlands. She left Surabaya on the 7th April 1951 and arrived in Amsterdam on the 29th April 1951. In 1951 she sailed with troops of the Royal Australian Regiment for Korea and landed them at Pusan.

In 1956 while transporting more Australian troops to Korea she encountered a severe typhoon off the Philippines coast. In September 1957 she carried more Australian troops for a tour of duty in Malaya. However in the late afternoon, while passing through the Torres Strait between North Queensland and New Guinea, the New Australia collided with an oil tanker travelling in the opposite direction.  There were no casualties, and damage to both vessels was not severe. The New Australia sustained damage to her bows, while the tanker was damaged on her side.  Both ships remained at the site of the incident for three days while repairs were made. In late 1957, following the Torres Strait collision, the SS New Australia was withdrawn from service and, for the second time in her life seemed destined to be scrapped. 

Greek Line era (1957 – 1966):

On the 22nd May 1958 the Arkadia made her first voyage from Bremerhaven through Cherbourg, Liverpool and Greenock to Quebec and Montreal.  On the 17th June 1958 she made her first voyage, from Bremerhaven to Southampton, Cherbourg, Cobh, Quebec and Montreal. In 1961,  the Arkadia underwent further refitting by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg; She was now 20,648 tons and fitted out to carry 50 passengers in first class and 1337 in tourist class. Later she was used for cruising from Southampton to the Atlantic Islands, Morocco and Portugal. On the 16th August 1966 the Arkadia made her last voyage, from Bremerhaven to Montreal via Amsterdam, London, Le Havre, Cobh and Quebec. She departed Montreal on the 26th August 1966. In November 1966 she was laid up on the River Fal, Falmouth, Cornwall, and on 8 December 1966 she arrived at Valencia, Spain, for scrapping.  It was the end of a fine ship that once had been the famous Monarch of Bermuda.