The 11,030 gross registered tons (GRT) motor ship Sobieski was laid down in 1937 at the British shipyard Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson in Walker-on-Tyne near Newcastle and was launched on August 15, 1938. The 155.8 meter long and 20.4 meter wide ship was powered by two combustion engines from JG Kincaid & Co. from Greenock , which developed 11,250 hp and allowed a cruising speed of 17 knots. The passenger capacities were 70 passengers in first class, 270 in cabin class and 600 in tourist class.
The passenger steamer, which after Johann III. Sobieski , a Polish general from the 17th century, was put into service for the shipping company Gdynia America Line, founded in 1930, which operated a regular passenger and freight service from Gdynia to North and South America . The Sobieski was intended for the South American route and left Gdynia on June 15, 1939 on her maiden voyage to Brazil and Argentina .
After the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, the ship was converted into a troop transport for the Allies and was used, among other things, during the occupation of Dakar in September 1940 (Operation Menace). It was not until 1947 that the Sobieski was returned to its shipping company. On May 14, 1947, she left for her first voyage after the war on the Genoa - Cannes - New York route . On journeys in an easterly direction, Naples was also headed for, and Halifax was added as a port of call from May 1948 . In February 1950, the Sobieski completed its 29th and last round trip on this route.
In March 1950 she was sold to Russian owners who renamed her Gruziya and used it in the Black Sea on the route between Odessa and Batumi . On April 14, 1975, the ship arrived in La Spezia for demolition .
