Built by Alexander Stephen & Sons of Glasgow, Viceroy of India was launched on 15 September 1928 by Dorothy, Countess of Halifax, the wife of the Viceroy of India, E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax. The name had been changed from Taj Mahal to avoid offending Indians, particularly Muslims, who regarded the Taj Mahal as a sacred mausoleum.
Viceroy of India was delivered to P & O on 7 March 1929 and made her maiden voyage on the Indian Mail service. However, the beautifully appointed liner was ideal for the leisure cruise market, particularly with the unusual amenity of an indoor swimming pool, and therefore was used as a cruise ship every year until the outbreak of WW2.
In September 1932 she recorded a new record time between London and Bombay of 17 days, 1 hour and 42 minutes.
In November 1940, the ship returned to the River Clyde for conversion to a troopship. Two years later, while returning from Algiers during the North Africa campaign she encountered the German U-boat U-407 approximately 30 miles north of Oran. Viceroy of India was torpedoed and sunk. Four crew members were lost out of a total of 432 crew and 22 passengers.
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