MV ''Koolinda'' was an Australian general cargo and passenger ship which operated as a coastal steamer off

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

from 1930 to 1959.

General description

''Koolinda'' was built in 1926 by

Harland and Wolff Harland & Wolff Holdings plc is a British shipbuilding and Metal fabrication, fabrication company headquartered in London with sites in Belfast, Arnish yard, Arnish, Appledore, Torridge, Appledore and Methil. It specialises in ship repair, ship ...

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 ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

for the State Shipping Service, and was registered at

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 ...

. Her official

tonnage Tonnage is a measure of the capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on '' tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically refers to a cal ...

was , she was 344 feet long, with a beam of 50 feet, and had diesel engines driving two

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

s. ''Koolinda'' was used mostly for passenger and general freight transport on coastal routes in

n waters. In May 1932, ''Koolinda'' famously narrowly missed seeing two German aviators lost on the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

coastline. The men were eventually found close to death. In the aftermath of the battle between HMAS ''Sydney'' and German auxiliary cruiser ''Kormoran'' in November 1941, the ''Koolinda'' recovered German sailors from a 31-man lifeboat and returned them to Carnarvon. ''Koolinda'' is sometimes confused with another State Ships vessel of a similar design, '' Koolama''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koolinda 1929 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Economic history of Western Australia World War II merchant ships of Australia Maritime history of Australia Kimberley (Western Australia)