Geelong:

The Geelong (ID No.1118426) was originally built as a passenger ship of 7,954 GRT at Barclay Curle Whiteinch, Glasgow, for the Blue Anchor Line Ltd., (Wilhelm Lund) London. Launched as the Australia in 1904 and was completed as the Geelong in order to avoid confusion with the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. (P & O Line) ship of the same name.
As built, she was 450.2 feet in length, 54.5 feet in beam, and 26.9 feet in draught. The foc'sle (forecastle) was 92-feet in length. The Bridge, or spar deck, was 168-feet in length, and the stern, or poop deck, was 88-feet in length. The ship had accommodations for 90 1st Class and 450 3rd Class passengers. The ship was outfitted with electrical lighting, wireless equipment, and refrigeration equipment. Structural details of the ship consisted of 2 decks with a single open upper deck above the superstructure aft of the pilothouse, and a double bottom which ran 184-feet from forward to the engineering spaces, 65-feet in length located beneath the main engines and boilers running aft, and continued for 91-feet aft of the engineering spaces.
Propulsion was provided by four boilers, 2 of which were double-ended type and 2 single-ended, which were provided by Barclay, Curle & Co., Glasgow. The boilers consisted of 18 corrugated furnaces with a total combined grate surface of 326 square feet which resulted in a total heating surface area of 14,156 square feet. Output of the boilers were fed to twin triple-expansion 3-cylinder engines (clyinder diameters: 23, 40, and 65-inches with a 48-inch stroke) which generated 803 n.h.p coupled to twin shafts and propellers. This provided the ship with a cruising speed of 12 knots.
The S.S. Geelong
Throughout the ship's career the Geelong served under the command of at least two Masters. Captain J.E. Ilbery, later to be promoted to Commodore of the Blue Anchor Line, commanded the ship from 1904 until 1907. (Captain Ilbery would later another Blue Anchor Line ship, the S.S. Waratah)

The ship was also commanded by Captain R. Bidwell in from 1913 until at least November of 1915 (exact dates not known).
The S.S. Geelong
From the time of the ship's launch until 1909, the Geelong operated on the Great Britain-Australia emigrant service route with 4 other ships of the Blue Anchor Line, the steamships Commonwealth, Narrung, Wakool, and Waratah. As required under the British Merchant Shipping act pertaining to immigrant ships, they sailed with all-white officers and crews.

An event in 1909 would forever after alter the Blue Anchor Line. On 26 June 1909, while on passage from Australia and London, the Blue Anchor Line's newest addition to the fleet, the S.S. Waratah (built at a cost of £135,000), under the command of Captain J.E. Ilbery (mentioned above), had just departed Durban, South Africa for Cape Town. The ship never arrived at her destination, completely disappearing with 211 passengers and crew. (The location of the shipwreck has yet to be discovered and the loss of the ship still remains a mystery.)
Captain J.E. Ilbery                                                                 The "S.S. Waratah"
With the loss of the Waratah, the Blue Anchor Line was unable to recover financially and in 1910, the line was sold to the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company for £275,000 and was renamed the Peninsular & Oriental Branch Line (POBL). £88,426 of the purchase price was for the purchase of the S.S. Geelong on 02 May 1910, which continued service on the Great Britain-Australia route after modification of the ship to carry 700 3rd Class passengers only was completed the following October.
With the outbreak of World War I, the Geelong was leased in August of 1914 to the Commonwealth of Australia, while under the command of Captain R. Bidwell, for use as a troop transport and designated as the HMAT Geelong (A2). The ship then underwent conversion at Melbourne to enable the ship to carry 62 officers and 1539 additional personnel.

On 22 September 1914, the HMAT Geelong embarked troops at Melbourne from the 1st Division Ammunition Column, 1st Division Artillery, and the 3rd Field Companny, 1st Division.

At Hobart the following month, on 20 October, the ship embarked the Tasmanian contingent of the 3rd Light Horse Regiment consisting on "C" Squadron, 1st Division Artillery, 3rd Brigade Ammunition column, 3rd Field Artillery Brigade, 12th Infantry Battalion (some of which, were members of the South Australian British Football Association), 3rd Infantry Brigade, and the 9th Field Artillery Battery. Two nurses were also embarked onboard either at Melbourne or Hobart.
The HMAT Geelong then joined 9 other troop transports and escorts (British, Australian, and Japanese) at King George's Sound, Albany, Western Australia, on 01 November 1914 forming the First Detachment of the Australian and New Zealand Imperial Expeditionary Forces. The convoy departed Australia on 01 November and sailed for Suez, Egypt via Ceylon, experiencing a number of delays enroute due to the threat of German warships. Upon arrival at Suez, the troops were disembarked and initially used for the defense of the Suez Canal against Turkey.
The next we hear of the HMAT Geelong is on 29 May 1915 when the ship is once again embarking troops, this time at Adelaide, Australia, with troops of the 27th Battalion, 2nd Division. The HMAT Geelong then departed on 31 May, stopping at Perth to embark more troops before sailing for Suez, arriving approximately 2 weeks later. Of note here: a Private Thomas Playford was embarked onboard the ship at Adelaide. He would later fight at Galipoli and return to Australia after the war eventually to become Sir Thomas Playford, the longest serving Premier of South Australia to be democratically elected leader in Australian history (05 November 1938-10 March 1965).
The HMAT Geelong continued transporting troops for the rest of 1915, carrying troops of Signal Company 2, Second Division; light horse battalions, members of the 32nd battalion consisting of medical officers, signallers, and Headquarters personnel. The ship's last disembarkation of troops was at Suez on 18 December 1915.
The S.S. Geelong (circa. 1910)
The Loss of the HMAT Geelong:
While on convoy on 01 January 1916 she was lost after a collision with the 2,866 GRT defensively armed British merchant vessel S.S. Bonvilston approximately 100 miles north of Alexandria at position 32.46N/30.05E in over 2200 meters of water while in transit from Sydney to London via Port Said with general cargo including tea and lead. All officers and crew rescued.
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Geelong
Geelong
Captain J.E. Ilbery
S.S. Waratah
S.S. Waratah
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