HMT Duntroon
From Our Contribution
 | |
 Members of the 2nd Australian Prisoner of War Reception Group disembark from the MV Duntroon in Singapore, 13 Sep 1945 (AWM 117237) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | HMT Duntroon |
| Owner | Melbourne Steamship Company |
| Builder | Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Wallsend-on-Tyne |
| Yard number | 1460 |
| Launched | 4 April 1935 |
| Completed | August 1935 |
| In service | 1935 |
| Out of service | 1967 |
| Fate | scrapped 1968 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Passenger ship |
| Tonnage | 10,346 tons |
| Length | 455.0 ft (138.7 m) |
| Beam | 65.2 ft (19.9 m) |
| Depth | 30.2 ft (9.2 m) |
| Propulsion | twin screw |
| Speed | 19 knots (35.19 km/h) |
| Capacity | 373 passengers |
Contents
- 1 Remarks
- 2 Soldiers carried
- 2.1 Fremantle to Adelaide 21 - 25 Jul 1941
- 2.2 Fremantle to Melbourne 31 Oct - early Nov 1941
- 2.3 Colombo, Ceylon to Melbourne 25 March - 15 May 1942
- 2.4 Milne Bay to Brisbane 2 - 6 Jan 1942
- 2.5 Port Moresby to Townsville 19 March - 22 March 1943
- 2.6 Townsville to Port Moresby 8 - 11 May 1943
- 2.7 Townsville to Port Moresby 16 - 20 June 1943
- 2.8 Townsville to Port Moresby 31 July - 2 August 1943
- 2.9 Townsville to Port Moresby 6 - 8 August 1943
- 2.10 Townsville to Buna, Papua New Guinea 22 - 27 November 1943
- 2.11 Brisbane to Wewak, PNG 12 - 18 July 1944
- 2.12 Brisbane to Madang, New Guinea 25 August - 2 September 1944
- 2.13 Brisbane to Aitape, PNG 24 -27 Nov 1944
- 2.14 Torokina, Bougainville to Sydney 13 - 19 February 1945
- 2.15 Brisbane to Lae 2 - 7 May 1945
- 2.16 Brisbane to Torokina, Bougainville 5 - 10 June 1945
- 2.17 Torokina, Bougainville to Newcastle, NSW 26 July - 1 August 1945
- 2.18 Morotai to Townsville 26 October to 9 November 1945
- 2.19 Wewak, PNG to Brisbane 1 - 7 December 1945
Remarks
Built for the Melbourne Steamship Company with a capacity of 373 passengers, and used on the east coast-Fremantle route. She saw military service between 1942 and 1949. Originally intended as an Armed Merchant Cruiser, she was found to be unsuitable for this role and was returned to her owners. In November 1940 the Duntroon collided with and sank the auxiliary minesweeper HMAS Goorangi near the entrance to Port Phillip Bay. All 24 crew of the Goorangi perished.
In February 1942 she was requisitioned for use as a troopship, and was used amongst other things to transport Australian troops home from the Middle East before commencing duties in the south Pacific. In November 1943 she was involved in a second sinking when she sank the destroyer, USS Perkins with the loss of 9 Americans near Ipoteto Island off the coast of New Guinea. Both sinkings were investigated and the Duntroon was found not to be responsible for either of them.
Her army duty complete in 1946 she was turned over to the RAN for transport duties with the Occupying Force in Japan. Returned to her civilian owners in 1950, in 1961 she was sold to Kie Hock Shipping Company. Renamed Tong Hoo she was used on the Hong Kong-Indonesia passenger service. Sold again in 1966 to the Africa Shipping Company, and renamed Lydia before being laid up in Singapore in 1967 and sailed to Taiwan for scrapping in 1973.
Soldiers carried
Fremantle to Adelaide 21 - 25 Jul 1941
2/4th Machine Gun Battalion
- James William Basell
- Basil Fitzgerald
- Ralph Godfrey
- † Edgar Joseph Howard
- † Herbert Michael (Bert) Rubery
- Harold Edward (Tony) Saw