HMAS Berrima

HMAS Berrima was a passenger liner which served in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War I as an armed merchantman and troop transport.

Launched in 1913 as the P&O liner SS Berrima, the ship initially carried immigrants from the United Kingdom to Australia via Cape Town.

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 AE2.

[3] The 11,137 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.

[citation needed] Propulsion machinery consisted of two 4-cylinder quadruple expansion steam engines producing 9,000 indicated horsepower (6,700 kW), connected to twin screws, with a top speed of 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph).

[4] 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.

[10][11] Berrima continued to work under the liner requisition scheme until 18 February 1917, when she was torpedoed in the English Channel off Portland with the loss of four lives.

[12][3] After the rest of the crew were evacuated by the destroyer HMS Forester, then towed into Portland Harbour, beached (due to the lack of drydock facilities), and repaired.