HMAT A16 Port Melbourne
From Our Contribution
 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | HMAT A16 Port Melbourne |
| Owner | Star Line Ltd (J P Corry), Belfast |
| Builder | Workman Clark, Belfast |
| Launched | Nov 1913 |
| Completed | 10 Jan 1914 |
| Fate | scrapped 1948 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Passenger/cargo steamship (refrigerated) |
| Tonnage | 9,152 tons |
| Length | 503.3 ft (152.7m) |
| Beam | 63.3ft (19.3m) |
| Speed | 13 knots (21 kph) |
| Capacity | crew + 1,000 troops |
Contents
- 1 Remarks
- 2 Soldiers carried
- 2.1 England to Sydney 19 January 29 February 1916
- 2.2 Melbourne to Davenport 21 October - 28 December 1916
- 2.3 Sydney to Liverpool 16 July - 16 September 1917
- 2.4 England to Albany 11 January - 26 February 1918
- 2.5 Albany to Southampton via Port Suez, Alexandria, Faenza (Italy) 8 May - 20 August 1918
- 2.6 Port Said to Fremantle 4 - 31 March 1919
- 2.7 Other Voyages
Remarks
Also known for the early part of the war as Star of Victoria. Owned by the Commonwealth and Dominion Line. Requisitioned by the Commonwealth in 1914, she spent August / September being converted to carry 1,000 troops. Under both names, she made eight transport voyages from Australia commencing with the first convoy when she carried the 1st Light Horse Brigade to Alexandria in Egypt.
The renaming occurred in 1916 when its ownership was taken back by the Commonwealth and Dominion Line Ltd of London. The vessel remained under lease with the Commonwealth until 2 Oct 1917 after which she came under the control of the British Admiralty.
In 1919 she was converted for normal commercial trade. Following lengthy periods when she was laid up in the 1930s, during WW2 she was used as a carrier of chilled meat, and survived to eventually be broken up in 1948.
Soldiers carried
England to Sydney 19 January 29 February 1916
Melbourne to Davenport 21 October - 28 December 1916
Embarked in Fremantle on 30 October
- Arthur James Allen
- William James Barnard
- † George Rowland Benton
- John Esperance Blair
- Roslyn Christopher Coulston
- Ernest Rulle Dalziell
- Patrick Francis Fitzgerald
- William Hall ww2 moved to the area between the wars
- Francis Henry Kingston
- Thomas Brown Mack
- William George Martin
- William Percy Matthews
- Charles Henry Murray
- James Francis Ottaway
- John Arthur Patterson MM
- Thomas Ramsell
- Wilfred Norman Robinson
- John Alexander Trotter
- Francis William Wakeham
- Frederick Owen Werndly
- John Henry Whitfield
Sydney to Liverpool 16 July - 16 September 1917
Embarked in Albany on 21 July
England to Albany 11 January - 26 February 1918
Albany to Southampton via Port Suez, Alexandria, Faenza (Italy) 8 May - 20 August 1918
Port Said to Fremantle 4 - 31 March 1919
Other Voyages
- 20 October 1914 from Sydney
- 25 February 1915 from Melbourne
- 10 September 1915 from Melbourne
- 30 March 1916 from Brisbane & 31 March 1916 from Sydney