SS President Coolidge continued from Manila via Singapore, the Suez Canal, the Mediterranean Sea, New York City, the Panama Canal and thence back to San Francisco. "President Hoover" and "President Coolidge" were aimed at holiday makers seeking sun in the Pacific and Far East. Passenger luxuries included spacious staterooms and lounges, private telephones, two saltwater swimming pools, a barbers' shop, beauty salon, gymnasium and soda fountain. "President Coolidge" broke several speed records on her crossings between Japan and San Francisco. In December 1937 "President Hoover" ran aground on the Taiwanese coast and was declared a total loss. Dollar Steamship Lines was increasingly in
SS President Coolidge transshipment beyond Australia, were the officers, known as the "Remember Pearl Harbor" (RPH) Group, selected to form the staff of the US Army Forces in Australia (USAFIA) as the command structure for what was to be the Southwest Pacific Area was evolving. "President Coolidge" performed these military duties in her pre-war civilian condition. Only in 1942 was she properly converted into a troopship. Many of her civilian fittings were either removed for safe keeping or boarded over for their protection. Her accommodation was reorganised to provide capacity for 5,000 troops. Guns were mounted on her, she was painted haze gray