''Fort Victoria'' was a cruise ship which was built in 1912 as ''Willochra''. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

she was requisitioned for use 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 ...

. In 1920 she was sold and renamed ''Fort Victoria'', serving until lost in a collision in 1929.

History

''Willochra'' was built by William Beardmore & Co Ltd,

Dalmuir Dalmuir (; gd, Dail Mhoire) is an area northwest of Glasgow, Scotland, on the western side of Clydebank, and part of West Dunbartonshire Council Area. The name is a lowland Scots derivation of the Gaelic meaning Big Field. The area was ori ...

West Dunbartonshire West Dunbartonshire ( sco, Wast Dunbairtonshire; gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann an Iar, ) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. The area lies to the west of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's commuter to ...

. She was yard number 507 and was launched on 14 August 1912. Completion was on 7 February 1913. ''Willochra'' was built for the

Adelaide Steamship Company The Adelaide Steamship Company was an Australian shipping company and later a diversified industrial and logistics conglomerate. It was formed by a group of South Australian businessmen in 1875. Their aim was to control the transport of goods b ...

. Her identical sister ships, also built by William Beardmore and Company, were SS '' Warilda'' (1911) and '' Wandilla'' (1912). In 1913, ''Willochra'' was chartered by the

Union Steamship Company of New Zealand Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand Limited was once the biggest shipping line in the southern hemisphere and New Zealand's largest private-sector employer. It was incorporated by James Mills in Dunedin in 1875 with the backing of a Scot ...

. In November 1914, ''Willochra'' was requisitioned, as a troopship making numerous journeys with reinforcements to the war, notably Egypt, and returning with wounded. In 1918 she was requisitioned by the British for Trans-atlantic duties and painted in dazzle camouflage. At the end if the war she repatriated German prisoners to Europe. In 1919, ''Willochra'' was sold to

Furness Withy Furness Withy was a major British transport business. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange. History The company was founded by Christopher Furness and Henry Withy (1852–1922) in 1891 in Hartlepool. This was achieved by the amalgamati ...

. She was refitted and renamed ''Fort Victoria''. Initially, she was operated by the Quebec Steamship Co,

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

but in 1921 she was transferred to the Bermuda & West Indies Steamship Co,

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

. Both companies were owned by Furness Withy. On 18 December 1929, ''Fort Victoria'' sailed from New York Harbor for Hamilton with just over 200 passengers on board. The weather at the time was dense fog, and ''Fort Victoria'' stopped to await an improvement in conditions. While anchored, she was hit by the Clyde-Mallory Line's , a liner which was on a voyage from Galveston, Texas to New York. ''Algonquin'' cut into the port side of ''Fort Victoria''. Distress calls were made by both ships, which were answered by the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...

and other ships in the area. All on board ''Fort Victoria'' were rescued before the ship sank later that day. The position of the wreck is . To replace ''Fort Victoria'', a contract was given to Vickers-Armstrong's to build the , which entered service in 1933.

Description

The ship was a cruise ship. She was long with a beam of . She was powered by two quadruple expansion steam engines which could propel her at . As ''Fort Victoria'' she was fitted up for 400 first class passengers, no lower class accommodation being provided.

Model

A boardroom model of ''Willochra'' is in the possession of the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum, Newport Beach, California.

References

External links

Colour postcard of SS ''Fort Victoria''Monochrome postcard of Fort Victoria
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fort Victoria Merchant ships of Canada Steamships of Canada World War I merchant ships of Canada Merchant ships of Australia Merchant ships of Bermuda Steamships of Bermuda 1912 ships Cruise ships Troop ships Maritime incidents in 1929 Iron and steel steamships of Australia Ships built on the River Clyde Shipwrecks of the New Jersey coast