Fort Victoria was a cruise ship which was built in 1912 as Willochra. During the First World War she was requisitioned for use as a troopship. In 1920 she was sold and renamed Fort Victoria, serving until lost in a collision in 1929.
History
Willochra was built by William Beardmore & Co Ltd, Dalmuir, West Dunbartonshire. She was yard number 507 and was launched on 14 August 1912. Completion was on 7 February 1913. Willochra was built for the Adelaide Steamship Company. Her identical sister ships, also built by William Beardmore and Company, were SS Warilda and Wandilla. In 1913, Willochra was chartered by the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand.. In November 1914, Willochra was requisitioned, as a troopship making numerous journeys with reinforcements to the war, notably Egypt, and returning with wounded. . In 1918 she was requisitioned by the British for Trans-atlantic duties and painted in dazzle camouflage. At the end if the war she repatriated German prisoners to Europe. In 1919, Willochra was sold to Furness Withy. She was refitted and renamed Fort Victoria. Initially, she was operated by the Quebec Steamship Co, Montreal but in 1921 she was transferred to the Bermuda & West Indies Steamship Co, Hamilton, Bermuda. Both companies were owned by Furness Withy. On 18 December 1929, Fort Victoria sailed from New York Harbor for Hamilton with just over 200 passengers on board. The weather at the time was dense fog, and Fort Victoria stopped to await an improvement in conditions. While anchored, she was hit by the Clyde-Mallory Line's, a liner which was on a voyage from Galveston, Texas to New York. Algonquin cut into the port side of Fort Victoria. Distress calls were made by both ships, which were answered by the United States Coast Guard and other ships in the area. All on board Fort Victoria were rescued before the ship sank later that day. The position of the wreck is. To replace Fort Victoria, a contract was given to Vickers-Armstrong's to build the, which entered service in 1933.
Description
The ship was a cruise ship. She was long with a beam of. She was powered by two quadruple expansion steam engines which could propel her at. As Fort Victoria she was fitted up for 400 first class passengers, no lower class accommodation being provided.
