SS Pfalz (1913)
The ship operating as HMT Boorara during the First World War
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History | |
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German Empire; Australia; Greece | |
Name | Pfalz |
Operator | Norddeutscher Lloyd |
Port of registry | Syra (after 1926) |
Route | Bremerhaven – Cape Town – Australia (for NDL) |
Builder | Bremer Vulkan |
Yard number | 570 |
Launched | 8 November 1913 |
Completed | 19 December 1913 |
Renamed |
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Identification |
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Fate | Wrecked 1937 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Rheinland-class cargo ship |
Tonnage | 6,557 GRT[1] |
Length | 472.6 ft (144.0 m)[1] |
Beam | 59.2 ft (18.0 m)[1] |
Draught | 36.8 ft (11.2 m)[1] |
Installed power | 470 NHP[1] |
Propulsion | Newcastle-upon-Tyne;[1] single screw |
Speed | 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h) |
Pfalz was a 6,557-ton cargo steamer operated by German shipping company Norddeutscher Lloyd.[2] The ship became the target of the first shot fired by Australian forces in World War I, soon after departing the Port of Melbourne in Australia.[3]
Norddeutscher Lloyd service
The ship departed Victoria Dock in Melbourne on 5 August 1914, with Williamstown-based pilot Captain Montgomery Robinson aboard.[4] As the ship passed Portsea it was momentarily stopped by the SS Alvina but allowed to proceed.[5][6]
Just before the ship approached
The pilot convinced the ship's
The ship was subsequently requisitioned by the
While serving in the
In 1916, the HMT Boorara was used to transport Australian soldiers from Brisbane, Australia to Plymouth, U.K.[9][10]
Later in the war, the ship was torpedoed twice in the
In 1919, The HMT Boorara was used to repatriate Australian troops.[11] The ship caught fire at Dunkirk and was repaired at Antwerp.[9]
Postwar civilian service
After the war, the ship was used by the Commonwealth Line for the transport of frozen cargo to the United Kingdom, using ports at Avonmouth, Liverpool and Glasgow.[12][13]
In 1926, the E. Hadjilias shipping line of Athens in Greece bought her, renamed her Nereus and registered her on the Cycladean island of Syra in the Aegean Sea.[citation needed]
Loss
In August 1937, Nereus sailed in ballast from
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "Details of the Ship: Name: Pfalz". Plimsoll ShipData. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
- ^ "Norddeutsche Lloyd (NDL)". Retrieved 2 July 2007.
- ^ a b "Point Nepean Forts Conservation Management Plan" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 July 2007. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
- ^ "German Vessel Stopped: Incident at Queenscliff: Guard of Marines placed on Board", The Brisbane Courier, (6 August 1914), p. 8.
- ^ "First shot in the War", The (Launceston) Examiner, (16 March 1940), p. 12.
- ^ a b "Historic barrels fire up memories of battles past". The Age. 4 August 2004. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
- ^ Wells, Samuel Garnet (1914), "Preparatory sketch of Australians firing at the German steamer Pfalz which attempted to get through the Melbourne heads on 4th (sic) August 1914", pencil drawing in the collection of the National Library of Australia.
- ^ The Brisbane Courier. No. 20, 924. Queensland, Australia. 14 February 1925. p. 20. Retrieved 18 January 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Flewell-Smith, John (1916) [August to December 1919]. August–December 1916. p. 3. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
- ^ "Coastal Defences of Colonial Victoria". Retrieved 2 July 2007.
- ^ Cavangah, Tony. "Information on the German vessel SS Pfalz" (PDF). Retrieved 8 March 2010.
- ^ "Australian Commonwealth Government Line Of Steamers". Flotilla Australia. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
- ^ a b c d McCurdy, H.W. (1966). Gordon, Newell (ed.). Marine History of the Pacific Northwest. Superior Publishing Co. p. 457.