The screw steamer Vectis, originally named Rome, was built by Cairds of Greenock for P. & O.'s Australian service in 1881 and operated successfully on the same route for over twenty years. Refitted as a cruise liner in 1904 and renamed Vectis when ready for sea, she ran on a wide variety of routes, including Scandinavia and the Baltic, until sold to the French government in 1912. The proposal to convert her into a hospital ship did not proceed however, and she was broken up the following year.