The diggers of the 3rd Pioneer Battalion prepare to board the HMAT Wandilla at Port Melbourne, bound for the Western Front. 6 June 1916 |
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| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Wandilla (1912-1921) Fort St. George (1921-1935) Cesarea (1935-1938) Arno (1938-1940) |
| Owner: | Adelaide Steamship Company (1912-1921) Bermuda & West Indies SS Company (1921-1935) Lloyd Triestino (1935-1940) |
| Builder: | William Beardmore and Company, Glasgow |
| Yard number: | Yard No 506 |
| Launched: | 25 May 1912 |
| Career (Australia) | |
| Name: | HMAT Wandilla |
| Operator: | Australian Army |
| In service: | 1915 |
| Out of service: | 1918 |
| Fate: | Returned to owners in 1918. |
| Career (Italy) | |
| Name: | Arno |
| In service: | 1940 |
| Fate: | Sunk 40 miles near Ras el Tin after being torpeodoed on 10 September 1940. |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 7,785 gross tons, 4,532 net |
| Length: | 411'3" |
| Beam: | 56'7" |
| Draught: | 34'1 |
| Installed power: | 626nhp on 6 coal fired boilers |
| Propulsion: | Twin quadruple expansion engines |
| Speed: | 16.36 knots (top) 14.5 knots (normal) |
The SS Wandilla 7785 tons, was built in 1912 by William Beardmore and Company, Glasgow for the Adelaide Steamship Company.
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Built in 1912, by William Beardmore and Company, Glasgow together with her sister ships SS Warilda and SS Willochra.
She was used on the Fremantle - Sydney passenger-cargo service until she was requisitioned as a troop transport vessel in May 1915 and later converted into a hospital ship in July 1916. While serving as a hospital ship, she was torpedoed by a U-boat in February 1918, the torpedo failing to explode. Returned to Adelaide Steamship Co in 1919 as the Company believed there was no future in coastal passenger services at the time. 1921 sold to Burmuda & West Indies SS Co (Furness-Withy) and renamed Fort St George. 1935 Lloyd Triestino acquired and renamed Cesarea. Renamed Arno 1938. Converted into a hospital ship by the Italian forces during WW2. Torpedoed and sunk 40 miles off Tobruk September 10th 1942 During World War I, several Adelaide Steamship Company ships were requisitioned by the Australian government, as were several other privately owned ships; Grantala and Warilda as hospital ships and Wandilla and Willochra as troopships.[1]
His Majesty's Australian Transport Wandilla transported many Australian soldiers to Europe, including:
She was manned by Australian officers and (during part of her service) Australian crews. Commonwealth control ended 24 January 1917.[2]
After being returned to her owners, she continued plying the coastal passenger-cargo service until she was sold to the Bermuda & West Indies SS Company in 1921 and renamed Fort St. George. She was modified by replacing her cargo holds with water tanks to supply fresh water to the hotels in Bermuda. She was also modified to accommodate 380 1st class and 50 2nd class passengers. She collided with White Star Line’s RMS Olympic in 1924 while in New York and was out of service for a period of time for repairs. She was sold in 1935 to Lloyd Triestino, Trieste and renamed Cesarea before being renamed Arno in 1938.
After being requisitioned as a hospital ship by the Regia Marina during the Second World War, she was sunk by aerial torpedoes from the Royal Air Force on 10 September 1940 at 33.14N 23.23E, about 40 miles NE of Ras el Tin, near Tobruk.