SS Kosciusko
From Our Contribution
 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | SS Kosciusko |
| Builder/Built | 1915 Barclay, Curle & Co. Ltd, Glasgow |
| Type | passenger ship |
| Displacement | 6,852 tons |
| Speed | 14 knots |
Remarks
A Polish passenger ship fitted to carry 712 passengers she served as a troop transport ship. Evacuated from Russia during the Russian Civil War, she was bought by Cunard Line in 1917 and was used as a troop transport between the United States and Europe and between Great Britain and Malta.
In 1920 she commenced commercial operations on the Baltic - America route under the name SS Lituania. Sold in 1930 to the Polish Transatlantic Ship Association she was renamed SS Kosciusko serving on the Poland, Canada route. Deemed obsolete in early 1939 she was withdrawn from Service.
On 30 June 1941 she returned to the Polish merchant marine under her old name. Chartered to the British Lamport and Holt Line, she served as a troop transport in the Indian Ocean and Malaya. She was attacked by Japanese aircraft several times and in 1943 was hit by a torpedo, which however did not explode.
Withdrawn to the Mediterranean, she took part in the Allied Invasion of Sicily. Then she returned to the Indian Ocean, this time as a part of United Maritime Authority. In April 1946 she was sold to the Liverpool-based Lamport and Holt Line, renamed to 'SS Empire Helfod and continued to serve as a troop transport and for transportation of displaced persons. In 1949 she was withdrawn from service and was scrapped the following year in Blyth.
Soldiers carried
Bombay, India to Adelaide 9 February to 23 March 1942
Disembarked in Fremantle 18 Mar 1942 and charged with AWOL when the boat left without them.