By Mike Cecil
Head of Military Heraldry and Technology
Australian War Memorial

Moving large numbers of troops across the sea has always presented challenges. During the First World War, merchant vessels both passenger and cargo were requisitioned and stripped of some of their civilian fittings. They sufficed as military transports and the ships’ life boats doubled as the means of ferrying men and materiel ashore.

With the outbreak of the Second World War, a similar approach was taken and many vessels from majestic passenger liners to small coastal freighters were taken over by the Navy. Three passenger ships in particular – the Westralia, Manoora, and Kanimbla - served the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) throughout the war years and beyond, first as Armed Merchant Cruisers (AMC), then later as Landing Ships Infantry (LSI). The Huddart-Parker Line Motor Vessel (MV) Westralia is typical of this group. Requisitioned on 2 November 1939, she was refitted and commissioned into the RAN as the AMC HMAS Westralia on 17 January 1940. Modifications included bridge protection and the addition of a seaplane, seven 6-inch guns, two 3-inch anti-aircraft guns and numerous machine guns, for her new role. The ship undertook extensive patrol, convoy and transport work particularly in the Indian Ocean during the first three years of the war.

With the entry of the Japanese into the war in December 1941, Navy’s requirements in support of combined operations changed. Once the initial southward thrust of the Japanese was halted, the Pacific War became one of ‘island hopping’ requiring the loading, transport and landing of large numbers of Army personnel and their equipment. In early 1943, HMAS Westralia commenced a major refit and conversion to her new role as an LSI. Much of the heavy armament was removed and the number of lighter anti-aircraft weapons increased along with her cargo handling capacity. The most visible addition was the string of landing craft hanging from davits along her sides, providing her with the ability to ‘self unload’ in support of amphibious assaults - anywhere, anytime. HMAS Westralia’s first such engagement in this capacity was at Arawe, on the south east coast of New Britain in December 1943. Many more landings followed over the next couple of years: Luzon in the Philippines, Tarakan, and Balikpapan. With the cessation of hostilities, Westralia’s duties switched to repatriation of prisoners of war and the support of Australian occupation forces in Japan. Her temporary employment in RAN service was completed in 1950 and she was returned to the role she was originally designed for, that of coastal passenger ship.

It was not until the early 1960s that a large, permanent troop carrying capacity was provided to the RAN. Like the LSIs of the Second World War, the new troop transport was a conversion of an existing ship designed for another role. In this case, it was the ageing aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney, a veteran of the Korean War, that was stripped of much of its aircraft handling equipment and fitted with cargo stowage points and an additional crane to become a Fast Troop Transport. The vast areas of the flight and hanger decks provided Sydney with considerable equipment carrying capacity and the lower internal spaces made for reasonable troop accommodation. There were, however, some distinct disadvantages. Deck loadings were severely limited which meant she was unable to carry the full range of Army equipment and stowage on the flight deck was exposed to the elements. The original transition to a troop transport had included only one additional crane (an ex-army NCK crawler crane bolted to the flight deck on the port side) and no integral means of ship to shore transport. Though partially rectified during the 1967 refit with the addition of six LCM6 landing craft and three more cranes, Sydney’s basic design was still that of an aircraft carrier, adapted for another role. Nevertheless, her numerous voyages to South Vietnam were an essential and indispensable element in support of the Australian Task Force.

Many valuable lessons were learned from the LSIs and Fast Troop Transport of the 1940s to 1970s. Today, the range and pace of operational commitments call for a purpose built, ocean going amphibious ship. Recognising that no temporary conversion can work as well as a purpose-built amphibious ship, the Australian Government has commissioned construction of two Landing Helicopter Docks, HMAS Adelaide and Canberra. They combine carrying and amphibious landing capacities to accommodate the heaviest of Army’s equipment with a flight deck large enough for six medium helicopters. Accommodation includes a hospital and a sophisticated communications array keeps the ship in touch with the world. These two vessels represent the next phase in Australia’s amphibious capability pioneered by Westralia, Manoora and Kanimbla during the Second World War and HMAS Sydney during the Vietnam War.