HMT Awatea
{{short description|New Zealand ocean liner, troop ship}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2017}}
{{more citations needed|date=May 2015}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= TSS Awatea 1936-1942.png |Ship caption= Awatea in her civilian colours }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country= New Zealand |Ship flag= |Ship name= Awatea |Ship namesake= Māori for "eye of the dawn" |Ship owner= Union Steam Ship Co of NZ |Ship operator= *1936–39: File:Union steamship co flag.svg Union SS Co of NZ
|Ship registry= Wellington |Ship route= Wellington / Auckland – Sydney |Ship ordered=1935 |Ship yard number=707 |Ship builder=Vickers-Armstrongs, Barrow |Ship laid down= 1935 |Ship launched= 25 February 1936 |Ship completed= July 1936 |Ship maiden voyage= 5 August 1936 |Ship identification= *UK official number 157650
|Ship reclassified= 1939, as troopship |Ship struck= |Ship fate= Sunk by aircraft, November 1942 }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship type= Ocean liner |Ship tonnage= {{GRT|13482}}, {{NRT|7929}} |Ship displacement= |Ship length= *{{cvt|527.3|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship beam= {{cvt|74.2|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship draught= {{cvt|25|ft|6|in|1|abbr=on}} |Ship depth= {{cvt|41.7|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship decks= 3 |Ship power= *4,608 NHP |Ship propulsion=*2 × steam turbines *2 × screws |Ship speed= {{convert|22|kn|km/h}} |Ship capacity= |Ship crew= |Ship armament= |Ship sensors= *wireless direction finding
|Ship notes= }} |
HMT Awatea was a trans-Tasman steam ocean liner built for the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand that was launched in 1936. From 1937 until 1939 she linked Wellington and Auckland in New Zealand with Sydney in Australia.
In 1939 she was converted into a Royal Navy troopship. In 1941 she took Canadian troops C Force to Hong Kong, 22 days before the Battle of Hong Kong broke out. In 1942 she took part in Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of Vichy French North Africa, where she was sunk by enemy aircraft.
Awatea is a Māori word meaning "eye of the dawn".Waters (1951), p. 90
Ocean liner
File:Another page in the history of Tasman transport.jpg
Vickers-Armstrongs built Awatea at Barrow-in-Furness in England, launching her on 25 February 1936 and completing her that July.{{cite web |url= http://shippingandshipbuilding.uk/view.php?year_built=&builder=&ref=205165&vessel=AWATEA |title=Awatea |work=Shipping and Shipbuilding |publisher=The Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust |accessdate=3 January 2021}} She had two screws driven by six steam turbines via single reduction gearing.{{cite book |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/37/37b0085.pdf |year=1937 |title=Lloyd's Register |chapter=Steamers and Motorships |volume=II |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register |accessdate=3 January 2021}} Their combined power of 4,608 NHP gave her a service speed of {{convert|22|kn|km/h}}. On one trans-Tasman voyage she averaged {{convert|23.35|kn|km/h}} over a distance of {{convert|576|nmi|km}}.Waters (1951), p. 91
On 5 August 1936 Awatea left Britain on her maiden voyage to New Zealand, sailing via the Panama Canal. She began her trans-Tasman passenger service on 15 September 1936 when she left Wellington for Sydney. On 22 August 1939 she was taken out of service in Sydney for her annual survey.Waters (1951), p. 92 That DecemberWaters (1951), p. 101 she was requisitioned by the Royal Navy as a troopship.
Service in World War II
One of the Awatea's first tasks was to transport members of the C Force, a force created by the Government of Canada to protect its interests in Hong Kong against the threat of Japanese invasion. Awatea and {{HMCS|Prince Robert}} picked up the troops in Vancouver on 27 October 1941, and landed them in Hong Kong on 16 November, 22 days before the Battle of Hong Kong broke out.Wilford (2011), p. 93.
She was ordered to deliver No. 6 Commando to North Africa for Operation Torch in November 1942, to defeat Vichy French forces. She completed her landing successfully, although the landing for No. 6. Commando had some major problems.Seymour (2006), p. 31.
The first problem was the inexperience of the crew at launching landing craft,Garrett (1980), p. 155 which caused the landing to be two hours late and the last wave of troops to arrive at 6:30 am, with most of the landing off target by up to several miles.
As she was leaving on 11 November 1942, an unknown number of aircraft from Luftwaffe Kampfgeschwader 77 attacked her. They bombed and strafed her, but her crew returned fire. Two torpedoes hit her port side, and a bomb hit her deck but did not explode. But the torpedoes started a fire, which reached and detonated the unexploded bomb. Several near-misses blasted apart most of her first-class accommodation. At this point the crew abandoned ship, which was later sunk by the same aircraft. The admiral of her fleet said "she fought the battle of a battleship" as a tribute to her.Homework (2010){{cite news |title= Awatea Sunk Near Algiers: Hit by Bombs and Torpedoes |newspaper= Press |location= Christchurch |date= 8 April 1943 |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19430408.2.44|access-date= 6 September 2022}}
Notes
{{reflist}}
References
- {{cite book |last= Garrett |first= Richard |year= 1980 |title= The Raiders |location= Newton Abbot |publisher= David & Charles |isbn= 0-7153-7835-X}}
- {{cite news |last= Homework |first= Dave |year= 2010 |title= The Loss of HMS Awatea |work= The Wings over New Zealand |url= https://rnzaf.proboards.com/thread/14144/loss-hmt-awatea-november-1942}}
- {{cite book |last= Seymour |first= William |year= 2006 |title= British Special Forces: The Story of Britain's Undercover Soldiers |location= Barnsley |publisher= Pen & Sword |isbn= 1-4738-1283-6}}
- {{cite book |last= Waters |first= Sydney D |year= 1952 |title= Union Line A Short History of the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand Limited 1875–1951 |location= Wellington |publisher= Union Steam Ship Company}}
- {{cite book |last= Wilford |first= Timothy |date=2011 |title= Canada's Road to the Pacific War: Intelligence, Strategy, and the Far East Crisis |location= Vancouver |publisher= USB Press |isbn =978-0-7748-2124-7}}
External links
- [http://ssmaritime.com/Awatea.htm Union Steam Ship Company TSS Awatea].
{{DEFAULTSORT:Awatea, TSS}}
Category:Passenger ships of New Zealand
Category:Maritime incidents in November 1942
Category:Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness
Category:Ships of the Union Steam Ship Company
Category:Steamships of New Zealand
Category:Troop ships of the Royal Navy
Category:World War II merchant ships of New Zealand