 Her running mate had suffered a failure of her propeller shaft at sea in 1893, and to avoid the same fate "Etruria" was confined to her pier until a replacement shaft was shipped over from Britain.After this was done, and the new shaft had been fitted in New York, she departed on 17 February for the homeward bound service.In 1900 "Etruria" remained on the North Atlantic service whilst "Umbria" was requisitioned to carry troops to and from South Africa during the Boer War.