WILLOCHRA_001.jpg KATOOMBAEsikatselukuvatTAHITI in WellingtonKATOOMBAEsikatselukuvatTAHITI in Wellington
Adelaide Steamship/USSCo. NZ .(Pass-cargo ref.) USSCo. Charter 1913-1915.
Year: 1913
Passengers: 430
Flag: AUS
Launched: 14.8.12
Completed: 7.2.13
Owner: Adelaide Steam Ship Co., Adelaide.
Builder: Wm. Beardmore, Dalmuir.
Yard No: 507
GRT: 7,784
LPP: 125.5
Beam: 17.3
In 1913 she was chartered from Adelaide Steam Ship Co., Adelaide by USSCo. NZ Ltd., and operated on the Trans-Pacific service for a year before she was requisitioned by the NZ government for WWI troopship service.
When the war ended she was used to return prisoners of war to their home countries, then, in 1919 she sailed with troops being repatriated to New Zealand.
She made one more trip to Plymouth, England where she was sold in 1920, to the New York and Bermuda Steamship Co. She was r/n FORT VICTORIA and ran between Bermuda and New York until 1928.
In 1929 the American coastal liner ALGONQUIN collided with her, and she sank in the main Ambrose Channel of New York harbour. Passengers and crew were safely evacuated, but the FORT VICTORIA was blown up with dynamite in order to clear the channel.
Originally owned by an Australian company, she never saw service on the Australian coast, and is probably better remembered in New Zealand and America than in Australia.
Details: Mirimar
Photo Credits: The Alexander Turnbull Library NZ