Melbourne Steamship Company Duntroon operated as a passenger transport until the start of World War II, when she was requisitioned for conversion into an
armed merchant cruiser on 12 October 1939. On the evening of 20 November 1940,
Duntroon departed from Melbourne to begin a voyage to Port Adelaide and Fremantle. At 20:37, while attempting to exit
Port Phillip Bay,
Duntroon collided with the
blacked-out auxiliary minesweeper , which was sailing to
Portsea to anchor for the night.
Military service In February 1942,
Duntroon was requisitioned by the
Australian Army.
Duntroon transported elements of the
Second Australian Imperial Force such as the
2/16th Battalion and others from the
Middle East and some Asian theatres of war back to Australia before commencing operations in the
South West Pacific and
Far East. This included strategic transportation of battalion-strength bodies of troops (such as the
57th/60th Battalion), equipment and supplies from Australia to the
South West Pacific theatre of war, and movement of troops around the islands of that region.
Duntroon was involved in a second collision in November 1943, this time with United States Navy destroyer . The destroyer was sailing from
Milne Bay to
Buna when she was rammed portside amidships and cut in two by
Duntroon just before 02:00 on 29 November, from Ipoteto Island (S9.6301, E150.0219). Nine Americans were killed, and one injured. A court of inquiry, held in San Francisco the following month, later held the captain of
Perkins accountable for the incident, along with his executive officer and officer-of-the-deck. After the war's end, in 1946,
Duntroon was used to transport prisoner of war reception units (medical teams, etc.) to Singapore to safely collect and recuperate former prisoners of war before repatriating the prisoners back to Australia. Throughout her wartime career she transported over 170,000 troops. While in RAN service,
Duntroon was used to transport personnel of the
British Commonwealth Occupation Force between Japan and Australia until late 1948.
Return to civilian service Duntroon was returned to her owners in 1946, and resumed coastal passenger and cruising services in January, 1947, sailing from Sydney to Fremantle via Melbourne and Adelaide. One of her engines broke down off Cape Leeuwin WA during this voyage slowing her down to 6 knots. On 23 October 1950, she was damaged by fire while berthed in the
Yarra River. She was resold to Kie Hock Shipping Co. in 1961 and was renamed
Tong Hoo and used on the Hong Kong–Indonesia passenger service.
Tong Hoo was sold in 1966 to the Africa Shipping Co., renamed
Lydia and used for the India – Pakistan – East Africa route. ==Fate==