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Shropshire / Rotorua
The transport ship Shropshire
carrying troops to England [1]
History
New Zealand
NameShropshire
Operator Federal Steam Navigation Company
Builder John Brown & Company, Clydebank, Glasgow, Scotland
Yard number400
Launched27 April 1911
Completed19 September 1911
Maiden voyage1912
In service28 October 1911
Out of service1923
FateTransferred to the New Zealand Shipping Company [2]
New Zealand
NameRotorua
Operator New Zealand Shipping Company
Acquired1923
Out of service11 December 1940
FateTorpedoed and sunk by the German U-Boat U-96 on 11 December 1940 [2]
General characteristics
Class and typePassenger/cargo steamship
Tonnage11,911 tons
Length526 ft 5 in (160.45 m)
Beam61 ft 5 in (18.72 m)
Depth of hold33 ft 4 in (10.16 m)
PropulsionTwin screw
Speed14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)

HMAT Shropshire (His Majesty's Australian Transport), originally SS Shropshire, was a 11,911-ton vessel, built by John Brown and Company in Clydebank, Glasgow, for the Federal Steam Navigation Company. [2] She was employed on passenger and meat trade between New Zealand and Great Britain, but due to the First World War, she was converted into a troopship. [3] [4] She was leased by the Australian Commonwealth Government until 5 August 1917, when the British Admiralty took over control of the ship.

Time as a troopship

Group portrait of officers of the Australian Field Artillery, in front of the Great Sphinx and pyramids at Giza, Egypt. All the officers embarked on HMAT Shropshire from Melbourne on 20 October 1914.

HMAT Shropshire undertook the following journeys as a troopship in World War I: [2] [5] [1]

Later use and fate

In 1923, the ship was renamed Rotorua for the New Zealand Shipping Company. [2] On 11 December 1940, it became a casualty of World War Two, when it was torpedoed by the German U-boat submarine U-49 off St Kilda, with 104 rescued and 21 lives lost.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "The transport ship SS Shropshire carrying troops to England". awm.gov.au. Australia: Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e "HMAT A9 Shropshire". birtwistlewiki.com.au. Australia. 14 October 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  3. ^ "HMAT A9 Shropshire during the Great War". The Wartime Memories Project. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  4. ^ "Troopships – The Forgotten Ships of WW1". sea.museum. Australian Government. 13 February 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  5. ^ "AWM244 Shropshire – Troopship movement cards, 1914–18 War: HMAT Shropshire (A9)". awm.gov.au. Australia: Australian War Memorial. 14 October 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  6. ^ Lyall, Hilda (1914). "HMAT Shropshire and HMAT Wiltshire sail from Port Melbourne. Aboard the Shropshire is 1277 Gunner ..." awm.gov.au. Australia: Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
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