Kowloon No.1 was a cargo ship that was built in 1943 as Empire Dirk by Ailsa Shipbuilding Co Ltd, Troon, Ayrshire, United Kingdom for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). Spending the war years in home waters, she was sold into merchant service in 1951 and renamed Nancy Moller, and then Mount Austin after a further sale later that year. In 1956, she was sold to the Australian Government and renamed Coolabah.