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HMHS Aquitania

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HMHS Aquitania
HMHS Aquitania.jpg
Aquitania in Hospital Ship livery en.wikipedia.org
HMHS Aquitania 1.jpg
Aquitania at Boston Naval Shipyard, September 1942
History
Name HMHS Aquitania
Owner Cunard, White Star Line
Builder John Brown & Co Ltd, Clydebank, Scotland
Yard number 409
Launched 21 Apr 1913
Completed 24 May 1914
In service 30 May 1914
Out of service 1950
Fate scrapped in Scotland 1950
General characteristics
Type Ocean Liner
Tonnage 44,786 tons
Length 901 ft (274.62m)
Beam 97 ft (29.57 m)
Depth 36 ft (10.97 m)
Propulsion Turbines, 4 screws
Speed 25 knots (46.3 kmph)
Capacity 972 crew; 7,724 troops



Remarks

Owned by the Cunard Line and used on the Southampton-New York (1914) (1920–1939) (1945–1948); Southampton-Halifax (1948–1950) routes during peace time. In civilian use carried she 618 first class passengers, 614 second class, 2,004 third class. These numbers were later reduced as standards changed.


During World War 1 she was initially fitted out as an auxiliary cruiser, before being altered to perform Troopship and Hospital ship duties. For the duration of World War 2 and beyond she performed Troopship duties before being used to transport migrants to Canada until 1949. Aquitania was retired from service in 1949 and was scrapped the following year.

List of soldiers carried

World War I

Acted as both a Troopship and a Hospital Ship.

Mudros to England 18 - 28 September 1915

Mudros to England 21 - 27 October 1915

World War II

Used as a troop ship

Fremantle to Port Tewfik, Egypt 20 Apr - 3 Jun 1940

Fremantle to Palestine 30 August - 30 September 1940

Fremantle to Bombay, transshipped to HMT Rajula for voyage to El Kantara 26 October - 25 November 1940

Boarded on the 25th , sailed on the 26th October.

Fremantle to Colombo 3 - 12 January 1941

Troops embarked 3 January, ship sailed 5 January
Seven smaller ships carried troops from Convoy US 8 between Colombo and ports in Egypt.

2/28 Battalion

Other units

Fremantle to Bombay 10 - 22 Feb 1941

Fremantle to Port Tewfik via Ceylon 9 - 25 July 1941

Boarded 5-8 July, sailed 9 July

Darwin to Ratai Bay, Java via Port Moresby, Sydney and Fremantle 30 December 1941 - 21 January 1942

Two smaller ships, the SS Marella and HMAS Westralia transported the 2/4th to Port Moresby from Darwin - 31 Dec 1941 to 3 Jan 1942.

Seven small Dutch ships carried personnel from Ratai Bay to Keppel Harbour, Singapore 22 - 25 Jan 1942

2/4th Machine Gun Battalion

Fremantle to Egypt 10 February - 17 March 1941


Port Tewfik, Egypt to Fremantle via Addu Atoll 26 January - 18 February 1943