View source for HMAS Berrima

{{Short description|Passenger liner (1913–1930)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Use Australian English|date=March 2013}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=SS Berrima in build at Caird and Co in 1913.jpg
|Ship caption=''Berrima'' under construction in 1913
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Ship country=Australia
|Ship flag={{Shipboxflag|Australia|naval-1913}}
|Ship name=
|Ship namesake=
|Ship owner=[[Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company|P & O]]
|Ship builder=[[Caird & Company]], [[Greenock]]
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=13 September 1913
|Ship acquired=August 1914 by RAN
|Ship commissioned=17 August 1914
|Ship decommissioned=20 October 1914
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=*Battle honours:
** Rabaul 1914<ref name=newhonours>{{cite news |url=http://www.navy.gov.au/Navy_Marks_109th_Birthday_With_Historic_Changes_To_Battle_Honours |title=Navy Marks 109th Birthday With Historic Changes To Battle Honours |date=1 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613184920/http://www.navy.gov.au/Navy_Marks_109th_Birthday_With_Historic_Changes_To_Battle_Honours |archive-date=13 June 2011 |publisher=Royal Australian Navy |access-date=23 December 2012}}</ref><ref name=honourslist>{{cite web |url=http://www.navy.gov.au/w/images/Units_entitlement_list.pdf |title=Royal Australian Navy Ship/Unit Battle Honours |date=1 March 2010 |publisher=Royal Australian Navy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614064156/http://www.navy.gov.au/w/images/Units_entitlement_list.pdf |archive-date=14 June 2011 |access-date=23 December 2012}}</ref>
|Ship fate=converted to troop ship, later damaged
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=title
|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|civil}}
|Ship name=''Berrima''
|Ship operator=P & O
|Ship acquired=1914
|Ship in service=24 March 1920
|Ship out of service=
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship identification=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate=Sold for breaking up 1930
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Ship class=
|Ship type=
|Ship tonnage={{GRT|11,137}}
|Ship length={{convert|500|ft|2|in|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|62|ft|3|in|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|38|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=2 × 4-cylinder quadruple expansion steam engines, {{convert|9,000|ihp}}, twin screws
|Ship speed={{convert|14|kn}}
|Ship capacity=*Civilian service:
**600 passengers
*Naval service:
**1,500 soldiers
|Ship troops=
|Ship complement=
|Ship armament=4 × {{convert|4|in|mm|abbr=on|0}} guns
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''HMAS ''Berrima''''' was a [[passenger liner]] which served in the [[Royal Australian Navy]] (RAN) during [[World War I]] as an [[armed merchantman]] and [[Troopship|troop transport]]. [[Ship naming and launching|Launched]] in 1913 as the [[Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company|P&O]] liner '''SS ''Berrima''''', the ship initially carried immigrants from the United Kingdom to Australia via [[Cape Town]]. In August 1914, ''Berrima'' was requisitioned for military use, refitted and armed, and commissioned into the RAN as an [[auxiliary cruiser]]. The ship transported two battalions of the [[Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force]] to the [[German New Guinea]] colonies in September.

[[Paid off]] from naval service in October 1914, ''Berrima'' then sailed as part of the second [[ANZAC]] troop convoy; in addition to carrying soldiers to the Middle East, the ship towed the [[submarine]] {{HMAS|AE2||2}}. ''Berrima'' continued to work under the liner requisition scheme until 18 February 1917, when she was torpedoed. She was towed ashore and repaired, then requisitioned by the Shipping Controller as a stores and munitions ferry. ''Berrima'' returned to P&O service in 1920, and resumed the expatriate run. This continued until the route's cancellation in 1929. ''Berrima'' was sold for [[ship breaking|breaking up]] in 1930.

==Construction and early career==
The P&O passenger liner SS ''Berrima'' was built by [[Caird & Company]], [[Greenock]].<ref name=Clydebuilt>{{cite web|url=http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=524|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041115185729/http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=524|url-status=usurped|archive-date=15 November 2004|title=SS Berrima|last1=Cameron|first1=Stuart|website=Clyde Built Database|access-date=22 February 2014}}</ref> The 11,137 [[Gross register tonnage|gross register ton]] vessel was one of five B-class passenger liners ordered for P&O's emigrant service from the United Kingdom to Australia via [[Cape of Good Hope]], a route acquired when the company took ownership of the [[Blue Anchor Line]] in 1910.<ref name=Clydebuilt/> ''Berrima'' was {{convert|500|ft|2|in}} in length, with a [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|62|ft|3|in}},<ref name=Clydebuilt/> and a [[Draft (hull)|draught]] of {{convert|38|ft|m|abbr=on}}.{{citation needed|date=March 2014}} Propulsion machinery consisted of two 4-cylinder [[quadruple expansion steam engine]]s producing {{convert|9,000|ihp|lk=in}}, connected to twin screws, with a top speed of {{convert|14|kn|lk=in}}.<ref name=Clydebuilt/> The ship had permanent accommodation for 350 third-class passengers, plus room for another 250 passengers in temporary accommodation.<ref name=Clydebuilt/>

''Berrima'' was launched on 20 September 1913, and delivered to P&O on 5 December.<ref name=Clydebuilt/> The liner sailed from London later that month on her maiden voyage, calling at Cape Town, [[Adelaide]], and [[Melbourne]] before reaching [[Sydney]].<ref name=Clydebuilt/>

==Military service==
In August 1914, the ship was requisitioned for military service.{{sfn|Bastock|1975|p=66}} ''Berrima'' was taken to [[Cockatoo Island Dockyard]] on 12 August for refitting, but instead of being converted into a troop transport as originally planned, the ship underwent a six-day conversion for naval service.{{sfn|Plowman|2003|p=37}} The modifications included converting holds into accommodation for 1,500 officers and soldiers, establishing a hospital was on the upper deck, and fitting four {{convert|4|in|adj=on|0}} BL naval guns and magazines, two on the [[forecastle]], two on the [[poop deck]].{{sfn|Plowman|2003|p=37}} On 17 August, the ship was commissioned as the auxiliary cruiser HMAS ''Berrima'', under the command of Commander J.B. Stevenson.{{sfn|Jose|1941|p=75}}{{sfn|Straczek|1996|p=31}} The ship's civilian officer complement were inducted into the [[Royal Australian Naval Reserve]], and the crew was supplemented by [[Royal Navy]] and RAN sailors.{{sfn|Bastock|1975|p=66}}

''Berrima'' left Sydney on 19 August 1914 carrying men of the [[Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force]], consisting of a battalion of 1,000 infantry and a small battalion of 500 RAN Reservists and time-expired Royal Navy personnel, for operations against the [[German New Guinea]] colonies.{{sfn|Jose|1941|p=75}} ''Berrima'' met the naval units of the expeditionary force off [[Rossel Island]] on 9 September.{{sfn|Bastock|1975|p=66}} Troops were landed at [[Herbertshöhe]] and [[Rabaul]] on 11 and 12 September respectively, and on the [[New Guinea]] mainland near [[Madang]] on 24 September.{{sfn|Jose|1941|pp=81–94, 102}} The ship was retroactively awarded the [[battle honour]] "Rabaul 1914" in March 2010 to recognise these landings.<ref name=newhonours/><ref name=honourslist/> ''Berrima'' subsequently returned to Sydney and, despite plans to employ her as an [[armed merchant cruiser]], was [[Ship commissioning#Ship decommissioning|paid off]] on 20 October 1914.{{sfn|Jose|1941|pp=104, 130–131}} She was converted to a troop transport in November 1914.{{sfn|Straczek|1996|p=31}}

In her new role, His Majesty's Australian Troop Transport (HMATT) ''Berrima'' sailed for the Middle East in December 1914 as part of the second troop convoy, carrying Australian and New Zealand troops and towing the submarine ''AE2''.{{sfn|Stevens|2001|p=44}}{{sfn|Jose|1941|p=239}} ''Berrima'' continued to work under the liner requisition scheme until 18 February 1917, when she was torpedoed in the [[English Channel]] off [[Isle of Portland|Portland]] with the loss of four lives.{{sfn|Jose|1941|p=420}}<ref name=Clydebuilt/> After the rest of the crew were evacuated by the [[destroyer]] {{HMS|Forester|1911|6}}, then towed into Portland Harbour, beached (due to the lack of drydock facilities), and repaired.{{sfn|Jose|1941|p=420}}<ref name=Clydebuilt/> The Commonwealth relinquished control on 10 October 1917.{{sfn|Straczek|1996|p=31}} After being repaired she was requisitioned by the Shipping Controller for use as the Atlantic stores and munitions ferry service.<ref name=Clydebuilt/>

==Post-war career and fate==
On 1 February 1920, while homeward bound, ''Berrima'' was stranded off [[Margate]] due to an error by the [[harbour pilot]].<ref name=Clydebuilt/> She was refloated the next evening.<ref name=Clydebuilt/> ''Berrima'' was returned to commercial service on 24 March 1920, and was subsequently employed on the P&O Branch Line.<ref name=Clydebuilt/> On 26 April 1929, ''Berrima'' departed on her final voyage to Australia, after which P&O shut down the UK to Australia via Cape Town route.<ref name=Clydebuilt/>

On 16 July 1930, she was sold for £29,000 to Japanese shipbreakers Asakichi Kitagawa, for breaking up in [[Osaka]].<ref name=Clydebuilt/>

==Commemoration==
[[Australian rules football]]er [[Bob Quinn (Australian footballer)|Bob Quinn]] was given the middle name "Berrima" in honour of the ship.{{sfn|Porter|2008|p=3}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Bastock|first=John|year=1975|title=Australia's Ships of War|location=Sydney|publisher=Angus and Robertson|isbn=0-207-12927-4}}
*{{cite book|last=Jose|first=Arthur|year=1941|title=The Royal Australian Navy, 1914–1918|edition=9th|series=Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918|volume=I|publisher=Australian War Memorial|location=Canberra|url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG1069926/|oclc=271462423}}
*{{cite book|last=Plowman |first=Peter |title=Across the Sea to War |publisher=Rosenberg Publishing |date=2003 |isbn=1922013137|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AqAcR8rdzJgC}}
*{{cite journal|last=Porter|first=A.|title=Bob Quinn – A Legend who Stuck by his Mates|journal=The Independent Weekly|pages=3|date=28 April 2008|url=http://www.portmagpies.com.au/newsarchive.php?mnth=4&season=2008&news_id=269|access-date=23 February 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227191609/http://www.portmagpies.com.au/newsarchive.php?mnth=4&season=2008&news_id=269|archive-date=27 February 2014|df=dmy-all}}
*{{cite book|last=Stevens|first=David|title=The Royal Australian Navy|series=The Australian Centenary History of Defence|volume=III|year=2001|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=South Melbourne, Victoria|isbn=0-19-555542-2}}
*{{cite book|last=Straczek|first=J.H.|year=1996|title=Royal Australian Navy: A-Z Ships, Aircraft and Shore Establishments|publisher=Navy Public Affairs|location=Sydney|isbn=1876043784}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last1=Dittmar|first1=F.J.|last2=Colledge|first2=J.J.|year=1972|title=British Warships 1914–1919|location=London|publisher=Ian Allan|isbn=0-7110-0380-7}}
* {{cite journal|last=Kerr|first=LCDR Glenn|title=Naval Reservists in WWI – First to Fight, First to Fall|journal=Navy Reserve News|volume= 9|issue= 5|pages=13|location=Hawthorne, Victoria|date=27 May 2002|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/reserves_new/reserveNews/Reserve_News_27_May_2002_Vol9_No5.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070705091710/http://www.navy.gov.au/reserves_new/reserveNews/Reserve_News_27_May_2002_Vol9_No5.pdf|archive-date=5 July 2007|access-date=23 February 2014}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
* [http://alh-research.tripod.com/ships_lh.htm His Majesty's Australian Transports HMAT Ships, Transporting the 1st AIF] - Australian Light Horse Studies Centre
* [http://www.awm.gov.au/units/unit_12820.asp SS Berrima] - Australian War Memorial

{{P&O ships}}
{{February 1917 shipwrecks}}
{{1920 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berrima}}
[[Category:Troop ships of the Royal Australian Navy]]
[[Category:Ocean liners]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Clyde]]
[[Category:Troop ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1913 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1917]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1920]]
[[Category:World War I merchant ships of the United Kingdom]]