SS Amarapoora
From Italy to Fremantle
Built in 1920 by Scottish P Henderson & Co, the Amarapoora provided 1st class accommodations for 146 passengers and a crew of 142. Her maiden voyage took her from Liverpool to Burma, return.
In 1935, she was given a considerable refit which saw passenger accommodations reduced from 142 to 125, offering more single and twin beded cabins.
In 1939, in preparation for WWII, the Amarapoora was requisitioned by the Royal Navy and converted to a hospital ship, with 503 beds. In 1940 she took part in the evacuation of 3,063 patients from Norway. In 1942, she was involved in carrying many wounded from North Africa to the United Kingdom, as part of Operation Torch. 1943, saw her receive yet another refit to add air-conditioning and an additional 100 beds.
She was paid off by the Royal Navy in 1946 and take oven by the Ministry of Transport to transport French Nationals from Saigon to Toulon, Dutch from Indonesia to the Netherlands and pilgrims from the Levant to Jeddah, as well as the repatriation of German prisons of war and their wounded.
Her role as a hospital ship concluded in 1948 and she was chartered by the International Refugee Organisation (IRO) to transport displaced persons. The Amarapoora departed Naples on 19 March, 1949 with 617 displaced persons on board from German and Eastern Europe to Fremantle, Western Australia. The DP's had been awaiting departure in the Bagnoli Camp, in Italy. The ship docked in Fremantle on 19 April, 1949.
Her next call to Fremantle was on 22 July 1949 having departed Europe in late June; this was the journey that Michal travelled to Australia on.
Two further voyages were made to New South Wales, Australia in October 1949 and April 1950.
The Amarapoora Story
The Amarapoora's story is a little confusing, but it is certain that she made two trips to Fremantle, Western Australia. A possible two further trips resulted in the disembarkation of DP's in the eastern states of Australia, namely New South Wales.
The Amarapoora's story eastern states stories were fraught with controversy over several child deaths, thought to be caused by malnutrition at the Bagnoli Migrant Camp in Italy, where the migrants had been staying while awaiting their journey to Australia. Therefore, she featured frequently in Australian newspapers at the time.
