Geelong was a ship owned by the Blue Anchor Line, and, after 1910, by P&O. She was built in 1904 by Barclay, Curle and Co. Ltd., at Glasgow, Scotland. As built, she had berths for 120 saloon and 200 third-class passengers, and also carried cargo. Her tonnages were 7,951 GRT and 5,030 NRT) tons, and she was 450.0 feet long, powered by triple-expansion steam engines, and capable of 14 knots, with a cruising speed of 12 knots (22 km/h).