SS WARILDA

Date1912

Object numberANMS0047[468]

NamePhotograph

MediumBlack and white photographic print on paper

DimensionsOverall: 47 × 75 mm

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineANMM Collection Transfer from the Australian War Memorial

Terms

photographs

DescriptionA black and white photogrpah of the SS WARILDA docked at an unknown wharf.HistorySS WARILDA was owned by the Adelaide Steamship Company and designed for the East-West Australian coastal service.She was requisitioned by the Commonwealth in August 1915 and fitted up as a transport. As well as transporting troops the WARILDA was also used as a hospital ship. During her war service she transported more than 7,000 troops and as a hospital ship she transported approximately 80,000 patients. Despite bearing the red cross of a hospital ship, the WARILDA was torpedoed and sunk 3 August 1918 in the English Channel by a German submarine who claimed she was carrying armanments. The WARILDA had been returning from Le Harve in France to England with 700 wounded troops on board and 123 lives were lost in the sinking. From Australain War Memorial website, Australian Postcard Collection, postcards 2/15/47 and 2/15/61. http://www.awm.gov.au/findingaids/special/Postcards/aus.xml accessed 01/03/2011.SignificanceThe SS WARILDA had a long association with the Australian coastal trade and her loss in WWI as a hospital ship became well known for the courage displayed by crew and the medical team in evacuating the wounded patients, many of who were blind and immobile. In particular were the efforts of Mrs Violet King who died in the sinking and had been a principal founder of the Womens Corps.