HMAS Westralia (1939)

History
HMAS Westralia after conversion to an LSI in 1944

Name:	Westralia (1929–59) Delfino (1959–1960) Woolambi (1960–1961)
Owner:	Huddart Parker, Melbourne (1929–1959) Asian & Pacific Shipping Company, Fiji (1959–1961)
Builder:	Harland and Wolff, Govan
Yard number:	843
Launched:	25 April 1929
Completed:	1929
Identification:	UK official number: 153935 code letters: LDRC
Fate:	Sold for scrap in 1961
History
Australia
Name:	Westralia
Acquired:	1939
Commissioned:	17 January 1940
Decommissioned:	September 1946
Reclassified:	Armed merchant cruiser (1940–1943) Landing Ship Infantry (1943–1946) Troop transport (1946–1951) Civilian ship (1951–1961)
Motto:	"Faithful and Bold"
Honours and awards:	Battle honours: Pacific 1941–45 New Guinea 1943–44 Leyte Gulf 1944 Lingayen Gulf 1945 Borneo 1945
Fate:	Returned to owners
General characteristics
Tonnage:	8,108 tons gross, 4,717 tons net in 1931
Length:	445 ft (136 m)
Beam:	60 ft (18 m)
Draught:	22 ft 6.5 in (6.871 m)
Propulsion:	2 Harland and Wolff oil engines, twin screws, 1,750 horsepower
Speed:	14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Capacity:	1,004 troops (as landing ship)
Complement:	541
Armament:	(as AMC): 7 × 6-inch guns 2 × 3-inch anti-aircraft guns 1 × Seagull V amphibian (as LSI): 1 × 6-inch gun 2 × 3-inch anti-aircraft guns 12 × 20 mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns

HMAS Westralia (F95/C61) was an auxiliary cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built by Scottish shipbuilder Harland and Wolff and completed in 1929, Westralia was operated by the Huddart Parker company until 1939, when she was requisitioned for service with the RAN as an Armed Merchant Cruiser (AMC). Fitted with guns and commissioned in early 1940, Westralia was initially used to escort convoys in the Pacific and Indian oceans. In November 1940, the largest mutiny in RAN history occurred aboard the ship, with 104 men charged.

In 1943, Westralia was converted into a Landing Ship, Infantry (LSI). The ship was used to transport units of the United States Army and United States Marine Corps, and took part in numerous amphibious landings. After being used to repatriate personnel at the end of the war, Westralia was decommissioned in 1946. Before she could be returned to her owners, the vessel was requisitioned again, this time for use as a troop transport supporting the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF). Westralia was not commissioned again, and operated by a merchant navy crew until 1951, when she was returned to Huddart Parker. In 1959, the ship was sold to the Asian and Pacific Shipping Co Ltd for use as a livestock carrier. Initially operated as Delfino, she was renamed Woolambi in 1960, before being sold for scrap in 1961.

Westralia was built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Govan for the Huddart Parker company as a twin screw motor vessel. Assigned the yard number 843, Westralia was launched on 25 April 1929, and completed later that year.

Westralia was requisitioned for war service by the Australian government on 2 November 1939 as an armed merchant cruiser (AMC). She was fitted with seven 6-inch (150 mm) guns and two 3-inch (76 mm) anti-aircraft guns. The ship was commissioned into the RAN on 17 January 1940, and assigned the pennant number F95.

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