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HMAT A55 Kyarra

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History
Name HMAT A55 Kyarra
Builder/Built 1903 William Denny & Bros Co Ltd of Dumbarton
Type passenger / cargo ship
Displacement 6,953 tons
Speed 15.4 knots


Remarks

Built initially for the Fremantle to Sydney route, and owned by the United Steam Navigation Company Ltd of London she could carry 2,600 tons of general cargo and 286 passengers (126 first class & 160 second class.)


On 6 Nov 1914 she was requisitioned and converted into a hospital ship for transporting Australian hospital units to Egypt. Painted white with a large red cross on either side, she made four trips from Australia in hospital livery.


In March 1915, Kyarra was converted into a troop transport, and made three additional journeys to England with troops before Commonwealth control ceased on 4 Jan 1918 when she was transferred to the British Admiralty. On 5 May 1918 while sailing from Tilbury docks London to Devonport on the south coast of England she was sunk by U-Boat UB-57 near Swanage with a loss of six lives.

Soldiers carried

Brisbane to Alexandria 21 November 1914 - ?? January 1915

Port Tewfik (Suez) to Melbourne 5 February - ?? March 1915

Port Tewfik (Suez) to Melbourne 27 October - 25 December 1917