Warilda (ship)
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The HMAT Warilda (His Majesty's Australian Transport) was a 7713 ton vessel, built by William Beardmore and Company in Glasgow for the Adelaide Steamship Company[1]. 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.
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[edit] Time as a troopship
- 8 October 1915: 10th Reinforcements, 1st Infantry Battalion embarked from Sydney heading to Egypt[3]
- 8 November 1915: 10th Reinforcements, 1st Brigade of the AIF, embarked from Liverpool, NSW, Australia. The ship arrived at Fremantle, Western Australia on October 15, 1915, and reached Suez on November 5, a Friday, where the troops were disembarked.[4]
- 1 June 1916: Tunnelling Company 6, 3rd Tunnelling Company embarked from Fremantle, Western Australia June 1, 1916. Disembarked Plymouth, England, July 18, 1916.[6]
[edit] Sinking
On August 3, 1918, she was transporting wounded soldiers from Le Havre, France to Southampton when she was torpedoed by UC-49, a German submarine.[7] 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.[8]
The ship sank in about 2 hours, and of the 801 persons on board, a total of 123 lives were lost. [9] Amongst the survivors was her commander, Capt. Sim who was later awarded the OBE by King George. [10]
[edit] References
- ^ Memorial to the Warilda
- ^ Bede Septimus Connell's obituary
- ^ Private Cecil Henry obituary
- ^ A history of John Robertson Hawke, AIF
- ^ Corporal ARTHUR WILLIAM JAMES MAGGS' obituary
- ^ Sgt Joseph ALLEN obituary
- ^ Adventuredivers.co.uk, Warilda
- ^ Adventuredivers.co.uk, Lanfranc
- ^ War Wrecks at netspace.net.au
- ^ Dictionary of ship names
