HMAT A18 Wiltshire
From Our Contribution
 Courtesy AWM Photo AO4186 | |
 Wreck of the Wiltshire c1923. NZ National Library | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | HMAT A18 Wiltshire |
| Owner | Commonwealth & Dominion Line Ltd, London |
| Builder | John Brown, Clydebank, Scotland |
| Completed | 1912 |
| In service | 1912 |
| Out of service | 31 May 1922 |
| Fate | ran aground and wrecked New Zealand |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Passenger / refrigerated cargo (twin screw) |
| Tonnage | 10, 390 tons |
| Length | 160.48m |
| Beam | 18.71m |
| Depth | 10.2m |
| Propulsion | Twin screw |
| Speed | 14 knots (25.93 kph) |
| Capacity | crew 100 |
Contents
- 1 Remarks
- 2 Soldiers carried
- 2.1 Melbourne to Port Suez 18 November - 15 December 1915
- 2.2 Melbourne to Port Suez 7 March - 23 April 1916 ?
- 2.3 England to Fremantle 12 November - 25 December 1916
- 2.4 England to Albany 12 May - 23 June 1917
- 2.5 Port Said to Melbourne 12 November 1917 - ? December 1917
- 2.6 England to Fremantle 23 July - 24 September 1918
- 2.7 Other Voyages
Remarks
Built for the Federal Stream navigation Co, Ltd of London for the UK to Australia, New Zealand route. Leased by the Commonwealth until 27 Dec 1917, when she was taken over by the British Admiralty. The Wiltshire completed nine voyages from Australia, including being a member of the first convoy from Albany. ( in Oct, 1914, the Wiltshire was part of a convoy of 10 troop transports crossing the Tasman Sea escorted by the Japanese Cruiser HIJMS Ibuki and HMS Pyramus, to join the biggest convoy ever to leave Australia up until that time: 42 ships, 20,000 troops and 7,500 horses.)
Wrecked 31 May 1922 in Rosalie Bay, Great Barrier Island, New Zealand on passage from UK to Dunedin via Auckland. None of the 103 men aboard perished. Twelve had been landed when parties from the tug Katoa and the cruiser Philomel arrived with better apparatus. It was then possible to save four men in six minutes, and this rate of rescue was maintained until the last Wiltshire man was safely on the cliffs. The relief parties had worked to the limit if endurance and happily no one was injured. Thirty of the crew are camping over night under rain-sodden trees, as the tracks across the island are impassable in the darkness. Others are housed on the steamers.[1] At the time of it being wrecked it was owned by Federal Stem Navigation Co.
Soldiers carried
Melbourne to Port Suez 18 November - 15 December 1915
Melbourne to Port Suez 7 March - 23 April 1916 ?
England to Fremantle 12 November - 25 December 1916
England to Albany 12 May - 23 June 1917
- Clement Wilder Benporath Transport duty
Port Said to Melbourne 12 November 1917 - ? December 1917
England to Fremantle 23 July - 24 September 1918
- Joseph George Benton Jnr
- Frederick Charles Close
- Edward Harris (Ted) Smith boarded in Egypt 30 Aug 1918
Other Voyages
- 19 October 1914 from Melbourne
- 14 April 1915 from Melbourne
- 22 August 1916 from Sydney
- 7 February 1917 from Sydney
- 10 June 1918 from Sydney
- ↑ The Times, Saturday, Jun 03, 1922; pg. 8