On 03/08/1918 HMAT Warilda was transporting wounded soldiers from Le Havre, France to Southampton when she was torpedoed by the German submarine UC-49. This was despite being marked clearly with the Red Cross; as with a number of other hospital ships torpedoed during the war, Germany claimed the ships were also carrying arms.
The ship sank in about two hours, and of the 801 persons on board, 123 died when the Warilda sank. The Deputy Chief Controller of the Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corp, Mrs Violet Long, lost her life in this action. Amongst the survivors was her commander, Captain Sim, who was later awarded the OBE by King George V. Her wreck lies in the English Channel.