 She was equipped with electric lighting and cooling chambers for transport of frozen meat, specifically lamb.When war was declared between England and Germany in August 1914, "Athenic" was in Wellington, New Zealand, and was requisitioned as a troopship under the British Liner Requisition Scheme.On 23 September 1914 she was in Lyttleton (Christchurch) in the South Island of New Zealand, where as one of the transports carrying what was known collectively as the "Main Body", she took on board the following units of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force