HMAT Warilda

HMAT Warilda (His Majesty's Australian Transport) was a 7713-ton vessel, built by William Beardmore and Company in Glasgow as the SS Warilda for the Adelaide Steamship Company.[2] 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 and later, in 1916, she was converted into a hospital ship.

Warilda
History
United Kingdom
NameWarilda
Operator Adelaide Steamship Company
BuilderWilliam Beardmore and Company, Glasgow
Yard number505
Launched5 December 1911
Maiden voyage1912
FateTorpedoed by German U-boat UC-49 on 3 August 1918.[1]
General characteristics
Tonnage7713 tons gross
Length411 feet 3 inches (125.35 m)
Beam56 feet 7 inches (17.25 m)
Draught34 feet 1 inch (10.39 m)
Installed power626 nhp on 6 coal-fired boilers
PropulsionTwin quadruple expansion engines
Speed
  • 16.36 knots (30.30 km/h; 18.83 mph) maximum
  • 14.5 knots (26.9 km/h; 16.7 mph) normal

Her identical sister ships, also built by William Beardmore and Company, were SS Wandilla (1912) and SS Willochra (1913).

Time as a troopship
  • 5 October 1915: 10th Reinforcements, 9th Battalion embarked from Brisbane heading to Egypt.:[3] 15 Batt embarked Brisbane HMAT A69 Warilda same date[4]
  • 8 October 1915: 10th Reinforcements, 1st Infantry Battalion embarked from Sydney heading to Egypt.[5]
  • 8 October 1915: 10th Reinforcements, 1st Brigade of the AIF, embarked from Liverpool, NSW, Australia. The ship arrived at Fremantle, Western Australia on 15 October 1915, and reached Suez on 5 November, when the troops were disembarked.[6]
  • 25 May 1916: Tunneling Companies, 2 Reinforcements embarked Melbourne.[7]
  • 1 June 1916: Tunneling Company 6, 3rd Tunneling Company embarked from Fremantle, Western Australia 1 June 1916. Disembarked Plymouth, England, 18 July 1916.[8]

Sinking

On 3 August 1918, HMAT Warilda was transporting wounded soldiers from Le Havre, France to Southampton when she was torpedoed by the German submarine UC-49.[9] 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.[10]

The ship sank in about two hours, and of the 801 persons on board, 123 died due to the sinking.[1] The Deputy Chief Controller of the Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corp, Mrs Violet Long, lost her life in this action.[11] Among the survivors was her commander, Captain Sim, who was later awarded the OBE by King George V.[12] Her wreck lies in the English Channel.[13]

References
  1. Milward, Jennifer (1 August 2014). "SS Warilda: troopship, hospital ship, ambulance transport, wreck". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  2. Memorial to the Warilda Archived 17 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Bede Septimus Connell's obituary". Archived from the original on 20 September 2006. Retrieved 10 October 2006.
  4. WW1 War Service Record SMITH HJ 3093
  5. Private Cecil Henry obituary
  6. Hawke, John Robertson, 1890-1965, John Robertson Hawke collection guide (1915-1919). University of Wollongong Archives, accessed 25/02/2023, https://archivesonline.uow.edu.au/nodes/view/8691
  7. Corporal ARTHUR WILLIAM JAMES MAGGS' obituary
  8. "Sgt Joseph ALLEN obituary". Archived from the original on 21 August 2006. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  9. "Adventuredivers.co.uk, Warilda". Archived from the original on 20 June 2006. Retrieved 9 October 2006.
  10. "Adventuredivers.co.uk, Lanfranc". Archived from the original on 19 February 2006. Retrieved 9 October 2006.
  11. "War Wrecks". netspace.net.au.
  12. "Dictionary of ship names" (PDF). perso.orange.fr.
  13. "Wounded drown at night". The New York Times. 6 August 1918. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
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