 Since 1813, there had been tensions between the British Empire and the Russian Empire due to Russia's southward expansion into Afghanistan.In March, 1885, the Panjdeh incident caused a war scare, and on 26 March "Umbria" and found themselves chartered to the Admiralty, and "Umbria" was armed as a merchant cruiser.Shortly after this date the dispute with Russia was settled, and "Etruria" was returned to the North Atlantic service, but "Umbria" was retained for a further six months as a precaution.