HMT Karoa
From Our Contribution
 | |
 Oil on board by Captain V R Smith, RAMC, 1945 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | HMT Karoa |
| Owner | British India Steam Navigation Company Ltd |
| Builder | Swan, Hunter and Wigham RIchardson Ltd., Tyneside |
| Yard number | 946 |
| Launched | 3 Dec 1914 |
| Completed | March 1905 |
| In service | 1905 |
| Out of service | May 1950 |
| Fate | Broken up |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Passenger / cargo |
| Tonnage | 6,631 tons |
| Length | 425.0 ft (129.54m) |
| Beam | 55 ft 6 in (16.92m) |
| Depth | 31 ft 4 in (9.55m) |
| Propulsion | twin screw |
| Speed | 15.5 knots (28.71 km/h) |
| Capacity | 44 x 1st Class, 64 x 2nd Class & 1471 x others |
Remarks
Owned by the British India Steam Navigation Co Ltd, she was built for service in the tropics. She carried 44 first class passengers, and 64 in second class. requisitioned by the Admiralty from March 1915 until 1919 and used as a troop ship, before returning to her owners and civil service.
During WW2, she was again requisitioned by the Admiralty an re-entered military service, this time initially as a store ship before being converted into a hospital ship in March 1944. In July 1941 she carried the Australian contingent to the British Military Mission 204 from Singapore to Rangoon, Burma. On the completion of her duties as a hospital ship she returned to her owners in October 1946, ahead of being broken up in Bombay during 1950.