HMAT A61 Kanowna
From Our Contribution
 HMAT A61 Kanowna | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | HMAT A61 Kanowna |
| Builder/Built | 1902 W Denny & Co of Dumbarton |
| Type | SS Troopship |
| Displacement | 6,942 tons |
| Speed | 14 knots |
Remarks
Initially requisitioned by the Kennedy Regiment, which embarked on 8 Aug 1914 for Thursday Island and Torres Strait. She next carried 500 troops to Port Moresby where she was to rendezvous with the rest of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force that was to capture German New Guinea.
Mid way, however the firemen aboard were said to have gone on strike, and thus the Kanowna was required to return to Townsville, stoked by the troops, most of whom then joined the AIF. From July 1915 she began to move 1,100 troops to Egypt, before in late 1915 sailing to England to be converted into a Hospital Ship capable of carrying approx. 450 patients.
She was then designated as No2 Australian Hospital Ship, and made 10 return journeys to Australia with wounded and sick troops. On one of her return journeys to England she carried the 1st Dermatological Hospital (Infectious Diseases). Later this unit became the Bulford Hospital. The Kanowna carried on as a Hospital Ship until as late as October 1919.
In Feb 1929 the Kanowna ran aground near Wilson's Promontory without loss of life. The wreck was discovered in 2005.