HMAS Koolonga was a cargo ship built by Sunderland Shipbuilding Company, England, in 1914 and bought by McIlwraith, McEacharn Line Pty Ltd, Melbourne and named SS Koolonga. She was requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy on 6 August 1914, as a collier and supply ship and commissioned as HMAS Koolonga. She participated during the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force occupation of German New Guinea until May 1915 when she was later returned to her owners. After being returned, she was employed on cargo trades from Whyalla, South Australia to Newcastle, New South Wales. She was sold in October 1917 through Scott Fell & Company, Newcastle to BHP Shipping and renamed Iron Monarch, before being sold again in 1920 to Interstate Steamships Ltd. This ship linked to record VC 0747. The ship played a role in WW1 small black and white photograph of steamship.steam ships, world war 1, hmas koolonga, fan album, ss koolonga

The ship was originally requisitioned by the RAN as a collier and supply ship. It was decommissioned from RAN service in 1915 which may have required a caretaker. This image is one of several attached to loose album pages which include some images with miscellaneous undated and handwritten inscriptions. This ship served in WW1. As an Australian ship may well have visited Melbourne and the Mission staff may have made ship visits and made this image.A sepia image of an older gentleman with moustache in a long jacket and a flat cap stands on a ship deck near a cargo hatch. An inscription / title is drawn from an album page. (see image)hmas koolonga, caretaker, ss koolonga, fan album, ships