Medic Source Material

MEDIC was built in 1899 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of 11985grt, a length of 565ft, a beam of 63ft 4in and a service speed of 13.5 knots. Sister of the Afric she was launched on 15th December 1898 but her completion was delayed while the modifications put into the Afric were incorporated. She commenced her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Sydney via Cape Town on 3rd August 1899 and was the company's first scheduled voyage to Australia. She was the largest ship on the route and on her return carried Australian troops and their horses to the Boer War which had started on 16th October. When the First World War broke out she remained in commercial service, because of her high meat capacity, until April 1917 when she was taken over under the Liner Requisition Scheme. She was returned to White Star on 26th March 1919 and remained with the company until January 1928 when she was sold to N. Bugge of Tonsberg and converted by H. C. Grayson into a whale factory ship and renamed Hektoria. During conversion she was given a stern ramp, which was a comparatively new innovation, which enabled whales to be hauled onto the ship for flensing. Previously whales were inflated with air and flensed alongside the ship. In 1932 she was transferred to Hektoria Ltd, a London subsidiary of N. Bugge which later became Hector Whaling, and flew the Red Ensign. On 11th September 1942, while in service as at oil tanker for the Ministry of War Transport, she was torpedoed by U-608 in the North Atlantic.

Tonnage: 11,985 tons gross, 11,183 under deck and 7,825 net. Poop 57 feet long, Bridge Deck 107 feet, and Forecastle 55 feet. She had one funnel, 4 masts, 3 decks, was fitted with electric light and refrigerating machinery. Water ballast. She had twin screws and quadruple expansion engine with 8 cylinders of 22, 31½, 46 & 67 inches diameter each pair and stroke 51 inches. The engine delivered 641 nominal horsepower and was built by Harland & Wolff. Call sign: RDHF. Official registration #: 110573.

Stevens Passage

http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/indexes/Index_search.asp?searchid=42
name - stevens, ship - medic, 1900 ... Name details are not good, but this is only family found so far.
Film Oct 1900 ( page 3 )

9th October 1900 - Sydney
17th October 1900 - Melbourne
7th November - Cape Town
1st December - London