|
|
WARTIME SERVICE 1943 to 1946 In January 1943 the whole crew left Alma in Melbourne and the Army took over the vessel. In February she was taken to Sydney, and there she not only underwent some drastic dismasting, but her conversion to army needs took an unconscionable time. Army personnel manned her, and a slipway firm was contracted for the work. On 7 June 1944 she set out to sea for the first time in some 16 months, and after several visits from investigators as to why she was never ready. She was minus two masts and bowsprit (sawn off), and in place of her one small 1936 engine, she now had three bus engines, and she was heading for Jervis Bay. She got as far as Port Kembla, with 60% of her crew disabled with mal de mer. There she was permitted to enter port, and was soon sent back to Sydney, mission incomplete. On 23 July she left Sydney for the war zone, in a roundabout way. First to Brisbane, she entered the Tropics for her very first time on 1 September, and on 16 October she reached Darwin, after sheltering by night along the way.Until New Year Alma made a few calls with supplies to the islands and mainland outposts. In the New Year she made a trip westward from Darwin to Wyndham, and was back in Darwin three weeks later. She then loaded a cargo for Lae, but had engine troubles for the next six weeks.At last, on 8 March 1945 she headed out of Darwin harbour for New Guinea.She delivered her cargo, and made various short trips with other supplies, up and down the east coast of New Guinea and thereabouts.Her greatest glory came on 28 April, while the last bastion of the Japanese remained at the eastern end of New Britain. General (Red Robbie) Robertson loaded 400 troops on board Alma, for a 100-mile trip to near the front line, more or less surrounding Rabaul. It was night time, and the stowage of so many men must have been uncomfortable.Records of her Army days are then missing, for at least six months. In March 1946 she was back in Melbourne from the Tropics, then left for Hobart. Between then and January 1947 the Army was responsible for Alma’s re-conversion to Bass Strait trading conditions.
Last modified:August 5, 2010
|
