SS Gothic was an ocean liner, built in 1893 at the Harland & Wolff Shipyards for the White Star Line. She was 490 feet (150 m) long and 53 feet (16 m) wide and 7,755 gross registered tons. For much of her later career she was transferred back and forth between White Star and Red Star Line, a IMM Co. subsidiary.

Gothic was built for the North Atlantic trade, but it was soon decided that she would be dedicated to the UK to New Zealand via Cape Town service, which the White Star Line ran jointly with the Shaw, Savill & Albion Line. She joined three older ships on this route; the Coptic, Doric and Ionic.

Gothic was a combined cargo and passenger ship, and most of her internal space was dedicated to cargo carrying, with several large refrigerated cargo holds, designed for transporting frozen meat products from New Zealand to the UK, with a capacity for up to 71,000 frozen carcasses of mutton. These used a carbon anhydryde refrigeration system.

Her passenger accommodation had capacity for a relatively modest number of passengers in two classes; 104 in first class, and 114 in third class.

She had two propellers, powered by two triple expansion steam engines which generated a combined 4,400 indicated horsepower (3,300 kW), which propelled the ship to a maximum speed of 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph).

She set out on her maiden voyage on 28 December 1893. On her third voyage she set a new record on the route of 37 days, 10 hours and 16 minutes between Plymouth and Wellington with an average speed of 14.16 knots (26.22 km/h; 16.30 mph).

Her running mates Coptic and Doric were withdrawn from the New Zealand service in 1894–95 following a downturn in trade, which left only Gothic and Ionic maintaining the service. From 1902 she was joined on the route by three new running mates; Athenic, Corinthic and a new Ionic.

During the summer of 1902, Gothic was used to repatriate New Zealand troops from South Africa following the end of the Boer War, She picked them up at Cape Town on her normal route.