HMAT A34 Persic
From Our Contribution
 | |
 Persic in wartime service in 1916. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | HMAT A34 Persic |
| Owner | White Star Line |
| Builder | Harland & Wolff of Belfast |
| Launched | 7 Sep 1899 |
| Completed | Oct 1899 |
| In service | 7 Dec 1899 |
| Out of service | 1927 |
| Fate | scrapped 1927 Holland |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | passenger / refrigerated cargo |
| Tonnage | 12,042 tons |
| Length | 550.15 ft (167.69m) |
| Beam | 63.25 ft (19.28m) |
| Speed | 13.5 knots (5.0 kph) |
| Capacity | 320 x 1st class; |
Contents
Remarks
Owned by the Oceanic Steam Navigation Co Ltd, of Liverpool (White Star Line). On 26th Oct.1900 she rescued the crew of the burning sailing schooner MADURA. It was leased to the Commonwealth until 8 Nov 1917 after which it was was commandeered under the British government's Liner Requisition Scheme. The Persic had previously carried troops to the Boer War, and in 1900 returned sick Australian soldiers from South Africa to Australia.
Fitted out to carry 40 Officers and 520 troops or 491 horses. Persic undertook 6 voyages from Australia carrying troops. Departed Sydney 21 Dec 1914 for Alexandria carrying the 5th Light Horse Regiment as part of the second convoy. On 10 Aug 1915 she from Melbourne with reinforcements for the 4th Light Horse Regiment, and on 18 Nov 1915 from Sydney with the 5th Field Artillery Brigade. On 3 Jun 1916 she sailed from Melbourne, and on 22 Dec 1916 with reinforcements for the 4th Light Horse Regiment, calling in at Fremantle to allow Medical personnel to board. On 29 Aug 1917 she carried Medical officers from Melbourne to England, and although no longer under Australian control (having been transferred to the British Admiralty on 8 Nov 1917), with Medical staff from Sydney on 21 Mar 1918.
On 12 September 1918, Persic was sailing in a convoy carrying 2,800 American troops when she was torpedoed by the German U-boat SM UB-87 near the Isles of Scilly. Despite substantial damage she stayed afloat, and limped back to port under her own power where she was beached, and all on board survived. Released back to her owners in 1920, she suffered unrepairable engine wear in 1926 and so in July 1927 she was sent to the Netherlands to be broken up.
Soldiers carried
Sydney to Alexandria 18 November - 21 December 1915
Embarked in Melbourne on 22 November
Melbourne to Devonport 22 December 1916 - 3 March 1917
Embarked in Fremantle on 29 December
5th Division Ammunition Sub Park then known as 3rd Auxiliary Mechanical Transport Company, aboard
- David Forbes Abernethy
- Albert William Barratt
- Eric Horace Bell
- Clement Wilder Benporath Transport duty
- John Humphrey Coyle
- † George Mouatt Dow
- George Henry Holroyd
- Charles John Mitchell
- Albert Thomas Myers
- Alfred Tennyson Needham
- Robert George Orrock
- Albert Ernest Osborne
- William Percival Nairn
- Alfred Tennyson Needham
- Charles Edward Parkin
- Nicholas Joseph Rosekelly
- Joseph William Smith
- † Stephen Hubert Christian (Hughie) Wallace
- † Charles Alexander Wann
- † Arthur Werndly
- Alan Harry Wilkinson arrived in the district post WW1
England to Fremantle 21 December 1917 - ? January 1918
Other Voyages
- 21 December 1914 from Sydney
- 28 May 1915 from Melbourne, Victoria
- 30 May 1916 from Sydney & 3 June 1916 from Melbourne, disembarking at Plymouth on 25 July 1916
- 21 March 1918 from Sydney