First convoy leaves Albany

On 1 November a Commemorative Day Service and Ceremonial March was held at Albany, Western Australia, to mark the Centenary of the departure of the First Convoy in the Great War.

Photo from National Archives of Australia Facebook page

The march was one of  many events held between 31 October to 2 November.

Discovering Anzacs has a panoramic photograph showing some of the 19 ships in King George Sound. To view a larger image of the photograph, right click on the image and select View Image [Firefox Mozilla].

Thirty-six ships made up the convoy that left King George Sound on 1 November and they were joined by another two ships that left from Freemantle. The troopships consisted of merchant ships carrying troops from New Zealand, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania. There were also three cruisers - HMA Ships Melbourne and Sydney and the HMS Minotaur. The two ships from Freemantle carried troops from South Australia and Western Australia. There was also a Japanese cruiser, HIJMS Ibuki.

ABC Great Southern WA contains a series of stories about the makeup of the first convoy. The names of the ships in the convoy and part of a log written by Arthur Read can be found as a pdf on this website.

First convoy leaves Melbourne

In October 1914 seventeen troop ships left Port Melbourne for Albany, Western Australia. The ships were  A1 HMAT Hymettus, A2 HMAT Geelong, A3 HMAT Orvieto, A4 HMAT Pera, A5 HMAT Omrah, A9 HMAT Shropshire, A10 HMAT Karroo, A15 HMAT Star of England, A18 HMAT Wiltshire, A20 HMAT Hororata, A21 HMAT Marere, A22 HMAT Rangatira, A24 HMAT Benalla, A25 HMAT Anglo Egyption, A26 HMAT Armadale, A27 HMAT Southern and A28 HMAT Militiades. Sixteen of the ships left between 17 and 21 October.

Although the departure of the ships was kept secret family and friends still flocked to Port Melbourne to farewell the troops. The ships departed from three piers - Town Pier, New Railway Pier (Princes Pier) and Railway Pier (Station Pier). The ships carried troops, nurses, supplies, weapons and horses.

See Anzac 2014-2018 Centenary for additional information:
HMAT Orvieto embarkation

Port Melbourne - First Convoy

Also
Troopships to move a nation

First World War Embarkation rolls - Australian War Memorial (In advanced search search for name of ship)

Troopships - Adopt a Digger project

His Majesty's Australian Transports - Desert Column (photos and information about the ships