HMAT ''Shropshire'' (''His Majesty's Australian Transport''), originally SS ''Shropshire'', was a 11,911-ton vessel, built by

John Brown and Company John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including , , , , , and ''Queen Elizabeth 2''. At its height, from 1900 to the 1950s, it was one of the ...

Clydebank Clydebank () is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Milton beyond) to the w ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, for the Federal Steam Navigation Company. She was employed on passenger and meat trade between

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, but due to the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, she was converted into a

troopship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable to land troops directly on shore, typic ...

. She was leased by the Australian

Commonwealth Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the prime ...

until 5 August 1917, when the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom that was responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Historically, its titular head was the Lord High Admiral of the ...

took over control of the ship.

Time as a troopship

Group portrait of Officers of the Australian Field Artillery in front of the sphinx

HMAT ''Shropshire'' undertook the following journeys as a

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

: * 20 October 1914 from

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

* 17/20 March 1915 from

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

/Melbourne to

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

* 20 August 1915 from Sydney * 31 March 1916 from

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

Port Suez The Suez Port (also called Port Tawfiq) is an Egyptian port located at the northern tip of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea at southern entrance of the Suez Canal, serving the canal and the city of Suez. It is owned and operated by the Ministry of ...

* 25 September 1916 from Melbourne * 11 May 1917 from Melbourne

Later use and fate

In 1923, the ship was renamed ''Rotorua'' for the

New Zealand Shipping Company The New Zealand Shipping Company (NZSC) was a shipping company whose ships ran passenger and cargo services between Great Britain and New Zealand between 1873 and 1973. A group of Christchurch businessmen founded the company in 1873, similar ...

. On 11 December 1940, it became a casualty of

World War Two World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilisi ...

, when it was torpedoed by the German

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

submarine off St Kilda, with 104 rescued and 21 lives lost.

References

1911 ships Ships built in Glasgow Steamships of the United Kingdom World War I auxiliary ships of Australia Iron and steel steamships of Australia Steamships of New Zealand Maritime incidents in December 1940 World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II {{ship-stub

Time as a troopship

Later use and fate

See also

References