SS Kościuszko The SS " Kościuszko " was a Polish passenger ship , named after Tadeusz Kościuszko . She was originally a liner Tsarina and later Lituania before becoming the " Kościuszko " and afterwards Empire Helford . It was ordered by the Russian American Line prior to the outbreak of World War I and was to serve as an ocean liner under the name SS " Czaritza or Tsarina " , operating with up to 1000 passengers between New York and Arkhangelsk . Launched in 1915 by Barclay , Curle & Co . Ltd . , Glasgow , she served as a troop transport ship . Evacuated from Russia during the Russian Civil War , she was bought by Cunard Line in 1917 and was used as a troop transport between USA and Europe and between Great Britain and Malta . Interwar period . In 1920 she returned to Arkhangelsk , this time with the Allied expeditionary force s . In January 1921 she was bought by Danish Baltic - American Line and was renamed to SS " Lituania " . She operated on various trans - oceanic lines , including a circulary Halifax - New York - Copenhagen - Gdańsk - Liepāja . In 1930 she was bought by the Polish Transatlantic Ship Association and renamed SS " Kościuszko " . She arrived at Gdynia on 8 June 1930 and on 20 June the Polish banner was raised . Initially with a mixed Polish - Danish crew , after 1931 the ship ' s was crew was entirely Polish . SS " Kościuszko " served on the Gdynia - Copenhagen - Halifax line , as well as a tourist ship for shorter cruises . In 1934 it came to Ellis Island - the website was wrong . In 1935 SS " Kościuszko " started to operate the Constanţa - Haifa line and in October 1936 on a line to South America . Rendered obsolete by the more modern MS " Batory " and MS " Piłsudski " , in early 1939 she was withdrawn from service . World War II . During World War II she was mobilized by the Polish Navy and was evacuated to Dartmouth in the UK prior to the outbreak of the Polish Defensive War . On 10 November 1939 she was commissioned under the new name of ORP " Gdynia " . Initially serving as a troop transport , she was considered unsuitable for service at sea and served instead as a base ship in the United Kingdom . She housed a canteen , a hospital , a Naval NCO school and several other offices . During that period she was visited by , among others , Winston Churchill and King George VI . During the German air raid on Denver , Norfolk , on 25 September , she was hit by two aerial bombs , but swift action by the crew prevented the ship from catching fire . On 30 June 1941 she was decommissioned and returned to the Polish merchant marine under her old name . Chartered to the British Lamport and Holt Line , she served as a troop transport in the Indian Ocean and Malaya . She was attacked by Japanese aircraft several times and in 1943 was hit by a torpedo , which however did not explode . Withdrawn to the Mediterranean , she took part in the Allied Invasion of Sicily . Then she returned to Indian Ocean , this time as a part of United Maritime Authority . In April 1946 she was sold to the Liverpool - based Lamport and Holt Line , renamed to SS " Empire Helford " and continued to serve as a troop transport and for transportation of displaced persons . In 1949 she was withdrawn from service and was scrapped the following year in Blyth .