HMT Norman

HMT Norman

History
Name	HMT Norman
Owner	Union Steamsip Co.
Builder	Harland & Wolff at Belfast
Launched	19 Jul 1894
Completed	13 Oct 1894
In service	1894
Out of service	1910
In service	1914
Out of service	1925
Fate	scrapped in 1925
General characteristics
Type	Royal Mail Ship
Tonnage	7,392 tons
Length	507 ft
Beam	53 ft 2 in
Propulsion	twin screw
Speed	17.5 knots (32.41 km/h)
Capacity	135 x 1st class; 101 x 2nd; and 608 others

Remarks

Built to British Admiralty Troopship specifications, in 1895, she grounded near Port Shepstone with slight damage, and the master was stripped of his command. Requisitioned for use as a troopship in November 1899 during the 2nd Boer War, she was transferred to the Union Castle Line in 1900 while still a troop ship. Refurbished in 1904 she then served as a mail ship until she was laid up in 1910 at Netley.

Requisitioned at the outbreak of war in 1914 as a troopship, she was used in 1914 to transport troops to France, and again in 1918 in the Mediterranean. In 1919 she made one voyage to Australia, before again reverting to the mail run. In 1923 she was placed on the round Africa run, out via the Suez canal and home via the Cape of Good Hope. She was laid up in the River Blackwater at Tollesbury in 1925 and broken up in 1926.

Soldiers carried

Acted as Hospital Ship at Gallipoli Apr - May 1915

• † Alexander Barnett buried at sea 28 Apr 1915

England to Brisbane 4 July - 20 August 1919

• Ernest James Brandon Bettenay