HMAT A35 Berrima
From Our Contribution
 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | HMAT A35 Berrima |
| Builder/Built | 1913 Caird & Co, Greenock |
| Type | Passenger / cargo steamship (twin screw) |
| Displacement | 11,137 tons |
| Speed | 14 knots |
Contents
Remarks
Built for Lund's Blue Anchor Line emigrant service. Could carry 350 third class passengers. In 1914 converted at Cockatoo island Drydock, Sydney to transport 1,500 troops and Officers. Fitted with four 4.7 pound guns, two forward, and two aft. Leased by the Commonwealth until 10 Oct 1917. Was a member of the second convoy from Albany.
18 February 1917, Struck by a torpedo or mine when 50 miles West of Portland Bill, with the loss of four lives. The majority of the crew were evacuated in the lifeboats and were picked up by the destroyer HMS FORESTER. A line was subsequently connected to the tug PILOT, and BERRIMA was towed into Portland Harbour the next day. In the absence of a dry dock she was repaired while still afloat with a 42 ton wooden patch built in three sections on the quayside, after which she was requisitioned by the Shipping Controller for the Atlantic stores and munitions ferry.
Completed duties, resumed normal service
Soldiers carried
Malta to Alexandria 15 - 19 October 1915
Fremantle to Devonport 23 December 1916 - 18 February 1917
Henry (Harry) Butcher
Maurice Francis Gustavis Hare
Leslie Jeffery Harvey
England to Fremantle 31 October - 22 December 1917
Arthur Candish
Ellis Shackleton