Civilian service
Viceroy of India was handed over to P&O on 7 March 1929 and made her maiden voyage on the Indian mail route. Viceroy of India was also suited for leisure cruises, which she made every year until the outbreak of World War II in September 1939.[6]
On 9 August 1929, she collided with the tug Olanda at Venice, Italy. Olanda was beached after the collision.[7]
On 23 November 1929 Viceroy of India rescued 25 crew members from the Italian cargo steamship Maria Luisa, which sank in the eastern Mediterranean[6] off the coast of Egypt.
In February 1930 Viceroy of India was berthed in Bombay when the British India Line ship Warfield collided with her. The collision pushed the liner against a dockside crane, which she demolished. Viceroy of India herself escaped serious damage.[6]
Later in 1930 Viceroy of India twice assisted the Greek cargo steamship Theodoros Bulgaris in the Bay of Biscay. In September she stood by when Theodoros Bulgaris' cargo of grain shifted in storms and the Greek merchantman's crew were transferred to another vessel. On 31 December 1930 Theodoros Bulgararis sank, and Viceroy of India rescued all of the crew.[6]
In September 1932, Viceroy of India set a new record time between London and Bombay of 17 days, 1 hour, 42 minutes.[6]
On 5 September 1935 the Cunard White Star liner SS Doric (1923) and the Chargeurs Réunis cargo steamship Formigny collided off Cape Finisterre. Doric stayed afloat but her 736 passengers were transferred to other ships as a precaution; 241 of them were transferred to Viceroy of India.[6]
In February 1939, Viceroy of India cruised to the South Atlantic, where she became the first P&O liner to visit the island of Tristan da Cunha.[6]
On 11 August 1940 the Bank Line cargo ship SS Testbank collided with the Shaw, Savill & Albion liner SS Ceramic (1912) in the South Atlantic off Walvis Bay. Both ships stayed afloat, but Ceramic's 279 passengers were transferred to Viceroy of India as a precaution.[6]
