SS ''Taroona'' was built in

Linthouse Linthouse is a neighbourhood in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated directly south of the River Clyde and lies immediately west of Govan, with other adjacent areas including Shieldhall and the Southern General Hospital to the west, a ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

by Alexander Stephen & Sons for

Tasmanian Steamers Tasmanian Steamers Proprietary Limited was a company that operated passenger ferries across the Bass Strait from 1921 to 1959. It was jointly owned by the Union Steam Ship Company and Huddart Parker. History The company was formed on 22 De ...

, Australia. She was a steam turbine ship capable of 18 knots, but typically operated at 16 knots for better fuel economy.

Service in Australia and New Zealand

''Taroona'' entered service in 1935 on the

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct waterwa ...

route from

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

to Bell Bay and Beauty Point from Melbourne to Devonport and

Burnie Burnie is a port city on the north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. When founded in 1827, it was named Emu Bay, being renamed after William Burnie, a director of the Van Diemen's Land Company, in the early 1840s. , Burnie had an urban popul ...

. ''Taroona'' was requisitioned for service as a

troopship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

by the

Government of New Zealand , background_color = #012169 , image = New Zealand Government wordmark.svg , image_size=250px , date_established = , country = New Zealand , leader_title = Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern , appointed = Governor-General , main_organ = , ...

. She carried troops from

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...

Naval Base Fiji Naval Base Fiji was a naval base built by the United States Navy in 1942 to support the World War II effort. The base was located on Fiji in the Central Pacific Ocean. The base was built as one of many advance bases in the island-hopping ca ...

in January 1942, and in March 1942. On her return to the

run she was almost immediately again requisitioned this time by the

Government of Australia The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federalism, federal parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster system, Westminster-sty ...

again as a troopship. During her first trip to

Naval Base Port Moresby Naval Base Port Moresby was a United States Navy base built during World War II at the city of Port Moresby on Papua New Guinea. The US Navy built a communication center and advance base headquarters for the US Seventh Fleet to support the Pacifi ...

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...

she carried 480 troops and supplies; on leaving Port Moresby she ran aground on a reef at the entrance where she remained for three days, helpless hard and fast aground. All attempts to refloat her using both engines and the assistance of navy vessels proved useless. The situation became serious when on several occasions Japanese bombers swept in to attack the Seven Mile Aerodrome outside Port Moresby. Why they failed to attack ''Taroona'' remains a mystery. Finally aided by three naval vessels, she shook herself free. In her war time career she travelled 204,535 miles and carried 93,432 troops. Although frequently under fire during her ninety-four trips she remained unscathed. ''Taroona'' arrived in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

4 February 1946, ending her career as an Australian troop carrier. She was handed back to Tasmanian Steamers and joined the '' Nairana'' which had maintained a very busy schedule during ''Taroona''’s absence including transporting troops from Tasmania to Melbourne. In 1959, ''Taroona'' was replaced by the ''

Princess of Tasmania MS ''Princess of Tasmania'' was an Australian-built roll-on/roll-off passenger ship. She was built by the State Dockyard in Newcastle, New South Wales for the Australian National Line. Laid down on 15 November 1957, she was launched on 15 December ...

'', a ship more suitable for the times as motor cars were becoming very popular and ''Taroona'' could only take 30 which had to be winched aboard.

Service in Greece

''Taroona'' was sold to Typaldos Lines, renamed ''Hellas'' and immediately taken over by her new crew and departed Australia for Greece. She was converted to a cruise ship and operated cruises around the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

until 1966. On a notable journey on 7 February 1964, former Greek Prime Minister

Sofoklis Venizelos Sofoklis Venizelos (, also transliterated as Sophocles Venizelos) (3 November 1894 – 7 February 1964) was a Greek politician, who three times served as Prime Minister of Greece – in 1944 (in exile), 1950 and 1950–1951. Life and career Ve ...

died on board the ship of a pulmonary edema, en route from

Chania Chania ( el, Χανιά ; vec, La Canea), also spelled Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno and west of Heraklion. The muni ...

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...

, at age 69. In 1966 she was laid up in

Perama Perama ( el, Πέραμα) is a suburb of Piraeus. It is part of Athens urban area and belogs to the Piraeus regional unit. It lies on the southwest edge of the Aegaleo mountains, on the Saronic Gulf coast. It is 8 km northwest of Piraeus, ...

bay for the winter but never worked again after the sank in big seas and the Typaldos Lines was found guilty. Subsequently, all their ships were sold except SS ''Hellas'' and SS ''Athinai''. ''Hellas'' remained laid-up at

Elefsina Elefsina ( el, Ελευσίνα ''Elefsina''), or Eleusis (; Ancient Greek: ''Eleusis'') is a suburban city and municipality in the West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is situated about northwest from the centre of Athens and is part of i ...

bay until May 1989 when she was towed out of the bay to

Aliağa Aliağa is a town and a district of Izmir Province in the Aegean Region of Turkey. The town is situated at about north of Izmir. Aliağa has a large port, mainly for oil and bulk cargo. Its economic activity is based on tourism, shipbreaking, ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

and scrapped.

References

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External links

Australia's Merchant Navy in the Second World War: S.S Taroona
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taroona Ferries of Tasmania Bass Strait ferries 1934 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Troop ships of Australia