HMAT Berrima

Berrima under construction in 1913
History
Australia
Owner:	P & O
Builder:	Caird & Company, Greenock
Launched:	13 September 1913
Acquired:	August 1914 by RAN
Commissioned:	17 August 1914
Decommissioned:	20 October 1914
Honours and awards:	Battle honours: Rabaul 1914
Fate:	converted to troop ship, later damaged
United Kingdom
Name:	Berrima
Operator:	P & O
Acquired:	1914
In service:	24 March 1920
Fate:	sold for breaking up 1930
General characteristics
Tonnage:	11,137 GRT
Length:	500 ft 2 in (152.45 m)
Beam:	62 ft 3 in (18.97 m)
Draught:	38 ft (12 m)
Propulsion:	2 × 4-cylinder quadruple expansion steam engines, 9,000 indicated horsepower (6,700 kW), twin screws
Speed:	14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Capacity:	Civilian service: 600 passengers Naval service: 1,500 soldiers
Armament:	4 × 4 in (102 mm) guns

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. In August 1914, Berrima was requisitioned for military use, refitted and armed, and commissioned into the RAN as an auxiliary cruiser. The ship transported two battalions of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force to the German New Guinea colonies in September.

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. Berrima continued to work under the liner requisition scheme until 18 February 1917, when she was torpedoed. She was towed ashore and repaired, then requisitioned by the Shipping Controller as a stores and munitions ferry. Berrima returned to P&O service in 1920, and resumed the expatriate run. This continued until the route's cancellation in 1929. Berrima was sold for breaking up in 1930.

The P&O passenger liner SS Berrima was built by Caird & Company, Greenock. The 11,137 gross 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.Berrima was 500 feet 2 inches (152.45 m) in length, with a beam of 62 feet 3 inches (18.97 m), and a draught of 38 ft (12 m). 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). The ship had permanent accommodation for 350 third-class passengers, plus room for another 250 passengers in temporary accommodation.