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HMAS Grantala

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Adapted from the English Wikipedia article HMAS Grantala, available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 29 November 202518 sources
HMAS Grantala / Figuig
Company typePassenger ship; Hospital ship (1914)
IndustryMaritime transport
Founded1903
Area served
Australia, Mediterranean Sea
ProductsPassenger and cargo transport; hospital ship services
OwnerAdelaide Steamship Company (1903–1915), Red Funnel Shipping Co (1915–1921), Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (1921–1934)

Template:Use Australian English

HMAS Grantala was a steam-powered passenger vessel constructed in England in 1903 to serve as a coastal interstate liner for the Adelaide Steamship Company. In 1914, the Australian Commonwealth government requisitioned her for use as a hospital ship under the Royal Australian Navy.

In 1915, ownership passed to Red Funnel Shipping Co, the British subsidiary of the French company Compagnie Générale Transatlantique. The ship was renamed Figuig in 1917 and subsequently transferred to the French parent company in 1920. Her service ended when she was dismantled in Italy in 1934.

Grantala had a sister vessel, the Yongala, which tragically sank with all aboard off Queensland's coast in 1911 and has since become a renowned site for wreck diving enthusiasts.

Construction and Identification

In 1903, Sir WG Armstrong Whitworth & Co constructed two steamships designed for both passenger and cargo transport at their Low Walker shipyard on the River Tyne, commissioned by the Adelaide Steamship Company. The vessel Yongala was assigned yard number 736, launched on 29 April 1903, and finalized in October of the same year. Its sister ship, Grantala, was designated yard number 737, launched on 28 May 1903, and completed by December.[1]

The registered length of Grantala measured 350.0 ft (106.7 m), with a beam of 45.2 ft (13.8 m) and a depth of 27.2 ft (8.3 m). Her gross tonnage was Template:GRT, and net tonnage was Template:NRT. Propulsion was provided by a single screw powered by a triple expansion steam engine featuring three cylinders, manufactured by Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Company. This engine had a nominal horsepower rating of 690 NHP,[1] and during sea trials conducted on 31 December 1903, she reached speeds of up to 16 knots (30 km/h).[2] Accommodation facilities included berths for 110 first-class and 180 second-class passengers.[3]

The Adelaide Steamship Company registered Grantala at Port Adelaide. Within the United Kingdom registry, her official number was 118370, and her code letters were VMHP.[1][4]

Service in Australia

Departing Southampton on 21 January 1904, Grantala embarked on her delivery journey from England to Australia.[5] Her route included stops at Cape Town and Durban before arriving at Fremantle on 29 February.[6] Subsequently, she proceeded to Adelaide,[7] then Melbourne,[8] before finally reaching Sydney on 10 March,[9] carrying approximately 200 passengers from England and South Africa. She promptly commenced service alongside her sister ship Yongala on the Adelaide Steamship Company's interstate route linking Sydney with Fremantle.[10]

Between 1908 and 1914, Grantala operated seasonally alternating routes: part of the year she sailed between Melbourne and Cooktown, Queensland; during the remainder, she maintained her original Sydney-Fremantle service.[11]

By the year 1911, wireless telegraphy equipment had been installed aboard Grantala,[12] and by 1914 her maritime call sign was VHJ.[13]

Grantala displayed in hospital ship livery near Suva, Fiji in November 1914
Medical personnel aboard in August 1914

Following the United Kingdom’s entry into the First World War on 4 August 1914, the Royal Australian Navy requisitioned Grantala three days later. She underwent conversion at Cockatoo Island Dockyard and Garden Island Naval Base to serve as a hospital ship capable of accommodating up to 300 patients,[14] staffed by a complement of 59 medical officers and nurses. This transformation was completed within a span of just seventeen days.[15] During the First World War, she remained Australia's sole hospital ship.[16]

On 30 August, Grantala departed Sydney to provide support for the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force’s landing at Rabaul in German New Guinea.[11] Subsequently, she was awarded the battle honour "Rabaul 1914".[16][17] Nevertheless, due to her limited size relative to operational requirements, the Royal Australian Navy returned her to civilian ownership in Sydney on 22 December.[18][11]

Red Funnel and CGT operations

In November 1915, the Red Funnel Shipping Company Ltd acquired the vessel Grantala in Sydney. This firm was a British subsidiary formed by the French Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT) during the First World War. It is important to distinguish this entity from the Southampton-based Isle of Wight and South of England Royal Mail Steam Packet Co Ltd, which operates under the name "Red Funnel". Departing Sydney on 4 December 1915, Grantala sailed via Fremantle and Cape Town before arriving at Naples in Italy on 25 February 1916.

Figuig docked at Bordeaux

Although Grantala was registered in London under Red Funnel, her management was handled by CGT. By 1917, she had been renamed Figuig, after the Moroccan town of Figuig within the French protectorate. CGT operated the ship on the route connecting Bordeaux and Casablanca.

On 18 July 1921, ownership of Figuig was officially transferred directly to CGT, who then re-registered her in Bordeaux. Her French code letters were OHED.

Her primary service route was across the Mediterranean, running between Marseille and Algiers.

The vessel was dismantled during the second quarter of 1934 at Genoa, Italy.

External links

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lloyd's Register 1904, GRA.
  2. ↑ "The Grantala." Daily Commercial News and Shipping List. 2 January 1904. p. 4 – via Trove.
  3. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named TBS-Grantala
  4. ↑ Mercantile Navy List 1906, p. 183.
  5. ↑ "Steamers bound to Fremantle". The Daily News. 29 February 1904. p. 1 – via Trove.
  6. ↑ "New steamer Grantala". The West Australian. 1 March 1904. p. 4 – via Trove.
  7. ↑ "Arrival of the Grantala". The Evening Journal. 7 March 1904. p. 2 – via Trove.
  8. ↑ "Another new interstate steamer". The Argus. 9 March 1904. p. 6 – via Trove.
  9. ↑ "Steamers inward and outward bound". Daily Commercial News and Shipping List. 11 March 1904. p. 7 – via Trove.
  10. ↑ "The Grantala". Daily Commercial News and Shipping List. 11 March 1904. p. 4 – via Trove.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Sauvaget 2009, p. 3.
  12. ↑ Lloyd's Register 1911, GRA.
  13. ↑ The Marconi Press Agency Ltd 1914, p. 346.
  14. ↑ "Grantala". Sydney Morning Herald. 29 August 1914. p. 14. Retrieved 11 September 2010 – via Trove.
  15. ↑ Goyne 2014, pp. 28–31.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Wilson 1999, p. 50.
  17. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named honourslist
  18. ↑ "Australian Hospital Ships". Naval Historical Review. Naval Historical Society of Australia. June 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2023.

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