SS ''Maheno'' was an

ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...

belonging to the

Union Company Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand Limited was once the biggest shipping line in the southern hemisphere and New Zealand's largest private-sector employer. It was incorporated by James Mills (ship owner), James Mills in Dunedin in 1875 ...

of New Zealand that operated in the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who in 1642 wa ...

, crossing between New Zealand and Australia, from 1905 until 1935. She was also used as a ship by the New Zealand Naval Forces during World War I; as ''His Majesty's New Zealand Hospital Ship No. 1.'' She was washed ashore on

K'gari K'gari ( , ), also known by its former name Fraser Island, is a World Heritage List, World Heritage-listed sand island along the south-eastern coast in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia. The island lies approximately nort ...

(Fraser Island) by a cyclone in 1935 where the disintegrating wreck remains as a popular tourist attraction.

Construction

The 5,000-ton steel-hulled ship was built by

William Denny and Brothers William Denny and Brothers Limited, often referred to simply as Denny, was a Scotland, Scottish shipbuilder, shipbuilding company. History The shipbuilding interests of the Denny family date back to William Denny (born 1779), for whom ships a ...

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

, Scotland, and launched on 19 June 1905. At 400 feet in length and 50 feet in the beam, she was powered by three Parsons

turbines A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced can be used for generating electrical ...

, giving a speed of 17.5 knots. She could carry up to 420 passengers: 240 in 1st class, 120 in 2nd and 60 in 3rd, and also had a refrigerated cargo hold. Accommodation for first class passengers included a dining room, smoking room, and music room with Bechstein grand piano. The ship was lit by electricity, and was fitted with all the latest safety equipment, which included Clayton sulphur dioxide fire extinguishers.

Service history

The ship was named after Maheno, a township in Otago, and entered service on 18 November 1905. She was employed on routes between Sydney and Melbourne via ports in New Zealand and

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

, Tasmania, and also made regular voyages between Sydney and

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

World War I

During World War I ''Maheno'' was converted into a

hospital ship A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating healthcare, medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navy, navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or ...

using money raised by an appeal by the

Earl of Liverpool Earl of Liverpool is a title that has been created twice in British history. The first time was in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1796 for Charles Jenkinson, 1st Baron Hawkesbury, a favourite of King George III (see Jenkinson baronets for e ...

, the

Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

. She was fitted with eight wards and two operating theatres, and had a medical team consisting of five doctors and 61

orderlies In healthcare, an orderly (also known as a ward assistant, nurse assistant or healthcare assistant) is a hospital attendant whose job consists of assisting medical and nursing staff with various nursing and medical interventions. These duties a ...

from the

Army Medical Corps A medical corps is generally a military branch or officer corps responsible for medical care for serving military personnel. Such officers are typically military physicians. List of medical corps The following organizations are examples of med ...

, a

matron Matron is the job title of a very senior or the chief nurse in a hospital in several countries, including the United Kingdom, and other Commonwealth countries and former colonies. Etymology The chief nurse, in other words the person in charge ...

, thirteen

nursing sister Nursing management consists of the performance of the leadership functions of governance and decision-making within organizations employing nurses. It includes processes common to all management like planning, organizing, staffing, directing an ...

s, from the newly formed

New Zealand Army Nursing Service The New Zealand Army Nursing Service (NZANS) formally came into being in early 1915, when the Army Council in London accepted an offer of nurses to help in the war effort during the First World War from the New Zealand Government. The heavy losses ...

and

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

s. In accordance with Article 5 of the 1899 Hague Convention she was repainted white overall, with a broad green stripe along her sides, and large red crosses on the sides and funnels. ''HMNZHS Maheno'' arrived at

Moudros Moudros () is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lemnos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lemnos, of which it is a municipal unit. It covers the entire eastern peninsula of t ...

, the naval base of the Gallipoli Campaign, on 25 August 1915, and the next day was off ANZAC Cove, loading casualties from the Battle of Hill 60. Over the next three months, she carried casualties from Gallipoli to Malta. They were cared for by members of the

including Evelyn Brooke. ''Maheno'' arrived back at New Zealand on 1 January 1916 to refit, then returned to Egypt in February to collect patients for transport back to New Zealand. She then sailed to the UK, arriving at Southampton on 3 July 1916, just after the start the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

. Until October 1916 she operated in the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

, returning large numbers of wounded and sick troops from the Western Front to England. ''Maheno'' sailed back to New Zealand in December 1916, and then made six more voyages between New Zealand and the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

, bringing back patients. There were criticisms of the ''Maheno'' making several trips to New Zealand to refit or to transport wounded soldiers home when most could have gone in a troopship; and also that the ship has been run by the governor (Liverpool) as "His Exc’s pet patriotic hobby". The chief medical officer was William Collins on her first voyage and James Elliott on her second and third voyages. In 1915, Collins "raised hackles by denying nurses their officer status and deluding himself that he could command the ship's commander, the master" (Captain McLean). In 1917, British Major Gretton was critical of the staff and said that Liverpool "puts his friends on the ship when they want soft jobs" and that the ship was nicknamed "Liverpool’s yacht". The complaint got as far as the Secretary of State for the Colonies; Liverpool said Gratton behaved like a cad. At the war's end in November 1918, ''Maheno'' was released from military service and returned to her business owner to resume her commercial life.

Running aground on K'gari (Fraser Island)

At the end of its commercial life, on 3 July 1935 ''Maheno'' left Sydney under tow by the 1,758-ton ship ''Oonah'', a former Tasmanian Steamers Pty. Ltd.

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The ...

ferry, built in 1888, which along with the ''Maheno'' had been sold to the shipbreaker's yard ''Miyachi K.K.K.'' in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, Japan. The ships were linked by a wire rope. On the afternoon of 7 July, about 50 miles from the coast, the towline parted in a

cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an ant ...

. Attempts to re-attach the towline failed in the heavy seas, and the ''Maheno'', with a skeleton crew of eight men aboard, drifted off and disappeared. The ''Oonah'', with its steering gear temporarily disabled, broadcast a radio message requesting assistance for ''Maheno'', whose propellers had been removed. ''Maheno'' was subsequently found on 10 July by an aircraft piloted by

Keith Virtue Keith Allison Virtue MBE (23 June 1909 – 7 February 1980) was a pioneer Australian aviator. Sir Lawrence Wackett, in the foreword of Keith Virtue's biography, writes that he was an experienced airman himself but he marvelled at the ability ...

, beached off the coast of

(Frasier Island). The crew had set up camp onshore, waiting for the ''Oonah'' to arrive, which it did on 12 July. The wreck was also the location of the marriage of Dudley Weatherley and Beatrice McLean (instead of at Townsville), at the invitation of Captain Takaka, to notes from the ship's Bechstein piano. The stranded ship was also used as a venue for an experiment in 'rocket mail' in August 1935. The ship was subsequently stripped of its fittings, but attempts to refloat her failed. The wreck was subsequently offered for sale, but no buyers could be found for it.

Wreck

''Maheno'' has remained at the location since, slowly corroding away. Owing to the now dangerous condition of the ship, access is prohibited. The

Australian Department of Defence The Department of Defence, also known simply as Defence, is a department of the Australian Government that is responsible for administering the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and its related entities, and is charged with the defence of Austra ...

lists the wreck as a site of

unexploded ordnance Unexploded ordnance (UXO, sometimes abbreviated as UO) and unexploded bombs (UXBs) are explosive weapons (bombs, shell (projectile), shells, grenades, land mines, naval mines, cluster munition, and other Ammunition, munitions) that did not e ...

(UXO) contamination. Annual

Anzac Day Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia, New Zealand and Tonga that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations" and "the contribution and ...

services are held at the site of the wreck and a replica of the ship's bell is located there.

References

External links

Painting ''The hospital ship "Maheno"''
(1915) by Walter Armiger Bowring in Archives New Zealand {{DEFAULTSORT:Maheno, SS 1905 ships 1935 in Australia Auxiliary ships of the Royal New Zealand Navy Ships built on the River Clyde K'gari Hospital ships in World War I Maritime incidents in 1935 Passenger ships of New Zealand Ships of the Union Steam Ship Company Shipwrecks of Queensland World War I auxiliary ships of New Zealand Hospital ships of New Zealand 1930s in Queensland