G'day Cobbers
Can anyone provide me with details of the following ships?:

1) HMAT Medic (designation A7)

2)HMAT Port Darwin

3)Hospital ship St George

4) Hospital ship Essquibo (not sure of the spelling)

Regards
Pop

Pop

This is a good Digger history site and has a few bried details on HMAT ships.

Click me

Neil

Try the collections search at the AWM site.

Cheers
Kim

Pop.
HMHS ESSEQUIBO is the correct spelling.
There is a photo card at http://www.hjcards.co.uk/older.htm from 1914 but the vessel is not yet in hospital livery. Couldn't immediately find St George but will browse. There is a book called "Hospital Ships and Ambulance Trains" which has good coverage of WW1 Hospital ships.
Best wishes
Sotonmate

Medic was a White Star Line ship built for the "Australia Run" She was launched in 1898. There is a little info and a couple of pictures of her at the following link. http://web.greatships.net:81/medic.html

Also on the AWM site there is an Official History of Australia in the War of 1914 -1918. Volume nine covers the Australian Navy and there is a chapter called Transports, Hospital ships and Dockyards. Also Appendix 6 covers merchant ships in Government War service. Both of these have lots of info about the HMAT's.
http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/chapter.asp?volume=10

Pop
I have taken a look at the book Hospital Ships and Ambulance Trains in my local Library. There is no reference to St George for WW1. Strange really,because there is a reference to all the other UK saints, St Patrick,St Andrew and St David,all of which converted to hospital ships from cross-Channel ferries for the duration !
Sotonmate

Actually, that book does reference both the St. George and the Esquiboo in Appendix C. St. George is shown as having been in service 7/5/15 to 4/12/17, with accommodation for 278. The Essequibo is shown as being in service 2/9/15 to 12/9/19, with 589 spaces. Sorry, but I have no other informatiion. Doc2

There are photographs from the Essequibo during a control by SM U54 near the english westcoast:
http://www.u54.suedholland-ferienhaus.de/h...efecht__1_.html

Regards
Köln

G'day Pop.

For Australia-related photos, try Picture Australia. A search for HMAT Medic, for example, brings up one or two photos of the ship, troops aboard waving farewell, etc. The National Archives of Australia may hold records on some of these ships. If records have a "View digital copy" link, the documents have already been scanned and are viewable online. If you're getting too many results to look through, add the term rs @ i (no spaces) to keywords - this returns only records that have been scanned.

regards,
Martin

As an aside, it seems that WW1 wasn't the first war that the Medic had transported Australian troops:

The Times, Friday, Dec 01, 1899
THE AUSTRALIAN CONTINGENTS
(Through Reuter's Agency)
CAPE-TOWN, Nov. 27.
Colonel Hanbury-Williams, the Governor's
Military Secretary, met the transport Medic on
its arrival with the Australian contingents, and
welcomed the colonial troops on behalf of his
Excellency. The commanding officers dined at
Government-house in the evening.
The men, who are in splendid trim, landed this
morning, and proceeded to the barracks at Mait-
land. The public reception will take place later.

Sounds very civilised! After being renamed Hektoria (in 1928), it was sunk in WW2:
http://www.miramarshipindex.org.nz/ship/show/10020
http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/2155.html

regards,
Martin

Pop

A reasonable picture of HMHS St. George

Click to view attachment

Regards John

Koln, Martin and Spithead
After 2 years it still amazes me that so many Forum members are willing to follow up on requests. Many thanks to you all.
Koln if possible could you provide me with a translation to English of the captions.
Thanks again
Pop.

I'm working on a translation from my website, but I have not so much time and my english grammar is bad.

These are the captions of the three pictures:

"Hospital ship - english - west coast" ("..." Original notice from the photographer on the picture)

U54 would attack the steamer at 15.03.1917 under water but saw in time that it was an hospital ship. The ship was stopped by a warning shot at the bow.

"English hospital ship. Control"

Yawl called by signal to the uboat. It was the hospital ship "Essequibo" with wounded soldiers on the route from the mediteranian sea to England.

"Hospital ship. English"

The ship was sent on his way after control. From the Essequibo called passengers three times "Hurray" as the uboat passed, U54 set the flagsignal "God speed you" and Essequibo answered "Thank you".


So wrote it the uboat-commander, Freiherr von Bothmer, in the ships war diary.


Regards from germany

Köln

Koln
once again many thanks
Pop