HMAT Warilda
Encyclopedia
HMAT Warilda (His Majesty's Australian Transport) was a 7713 ton vessel, built by William Beardmore and Company
William Beardmore and Company
William Beardmore and Company was a Scottish engineering and shipbuilding conglomerate based in Glasgow and the surrounding Clydeside area. It was active between about 1890 and 1930 and at its peak employed about 40,000 people...
in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
as the SS Warilda for the Adelaide Steamship Company
Adelaide Steamship Company
The Adelaide Steamship Company was formed by a group of South Australian businessmen in 1875. Their aim was to control the transport of goods between Adelaide and Melbourne and profit from the need for an efficient and comfortable passenger service...
. She was designed for the East-West Australian coastal service, but following the start of the First World War, she was converted into a troopship
Troopship
A troopship is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime...
and later, in 1916, she was converted into a hospital ship
Hospital ship
A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital; most are operated by the military forces of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones....
.
Her identical sister ships, also built by William Beardmore and Company, were SS Wandilla
HMAT Wandilla
The SS Wandilla 7785 tons, was built in 1912 by William Beardmore and Company, Glasgow for the Adelaide Steamship Company.-Design and construction:...
(1912) and SS Willochra
RMS Fort Victoria
Fort Victoria was a 7,784 GRT cruise ship which was built in 1912 as Willochra. During the First World War she was requisitioned for use as a troopship. In 1920 she was sold and renamed Fort Victoria, serving until lost in a collision in 1929.-History:Willochra was built by William Beardmore & Co...
(1913).
Time as a troopship
- 5 October 1915: 10th Reinforcements, 9th Battalion embarked from BrisbaneBrisbaneBrisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
heading to EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
.
- 8 October 1915: 10th Reinforcements, 1st Infantry Battalion embarked from SydneySydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
heading to Egypt.
- 8 November 1915: 10th Reinforcements, 1st Brigade of the AIFAustralian Imperial ForceThe Australian Imperial Force was the name given to all-volunteer Australian Army forces dispatched to fight overseas during World War I and World War II.* First Australian Imperial Force * Second Australian Imperial Force...
, embarked from Liverpool, NSWLiverpool, New South WalesLiverpool is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Liverpool is located 32 km south-west of the Sydney central business district, and is the administrative centre of the local government area of the City of Liverpool...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. The ship arrived at Fremantle, Western AustraliaFremantle, Western AustraliaFremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
on 15 October 1915, and reached SuezSuezSuez is a seaport city in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez , near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same boundaries as Suez governorate. It has three harbors, Adabya, Ain Sokhna and Port Tawfiq, and extensive port facilities...
on 5 November, a Friday, where the troops were disembarked.
- 25 May 1916: Tunneling Companies, 2 Reinforcements embarked Melbourne.
- 1 June 1916: Tunneling Company 6, 3rd Tunneling Company embarked from Fremantle, Western Australia 1 June 1916. Disembarked PlymouthPlymouthPlymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
, England, 18 July 1916.
Sinking
On 3 August 1918, she was transporting wounded soldiers from Le HavreLe Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
when she was torpedoed by the German submarine UC-49
SM UC-49
SM UC-49 was a German Type UC II minelaying submarine or U-boat in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The U-boat was ordered on 20 November 1915 and was launched on 7 November 1916...
. This was despite being marked clearly with the Red Cross; as with a number of other hospital ships torpedoed during the war, Germany claimed the ships were also carrying arms.
The ship sank in about two hours, and of the 801 persons on board, a total of 123 lives were lost. Amongst the survivors was her commander, Captain Sim, who was later awarded the OBE by King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
. Her wreck lies in the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...