built as French motor passenger ship Président Doumer for Compagnie des Messageries Maritimes, Marseilles.
On 3 Sep, 1939, she was requisitioned by the French Navy as troopship and sailed on 18 Apr, 1940 from Brest to Scapa Flow in convoy FP-2 together with the troopships Flandre and Djenné, escorted by the FR Tartu, FR Chevalier-Paul and FR Milan to bring the 27th Demi-Brig. Chasseurs Alpins (LtCol Valentini) to Norway. The convoy left Scapa Flow on 24 April, the escort reinforced by HMS Codrington (D 65) and HMS Fame (H 78) and arrived three days later. On 28 April, they landed the troops in Salangen and Bogen near Narvik. Within a week the troops had to be re-embarked because Norway was evacuated.

On 19 Jul, 1940, the Président Doumer was taken over by Britain in Ismaïlia, Suez and handed over to the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) as troopship. The master, Jean Paul Mantelet (a former pilot of the Suez Canal), 74 crew members and 20 French naval marines remained on board, while the rest of the crew was repatriated to France on the Athos II. 

At 00.03 hours on 31 October, the Alaska was hit by a torpedo from U-510 (Neitzel) and the 56 survivors who had been saved from the troopship again broke out in panic. The Norwegian crew had their hands full to prevent the lifeboats lines being cut before they reached the water. The ship did not sink and managed to reach Lisbon on 11 November.