{{Redirects here|Maheno|the settlement|Maheno, New Zealand}} {{Short description|Ocean liner and hospital ship}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=January 2017}} {{Infobox ship |section1={{Infobox ship/image |image=StateLibQld 1 256139 Maheno, the steamship whose hull now lies rusting on the beach at Fraser Island, ca. 1905.jpg |image_caption=Hand-coloured postcard of the SS ''Maheno'' }}
|section2={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header= |country= New Zealand |flag= {{Shipboxflag|United Kingdom|civil}} |name= SS ''Maheno'' |namesake= |owner= [[Union Company]], [[Dunedin]] |operator= |registry=[[Wellington]]<ref name="Clydebuilt">{{cite web |last=Allan |first=Bruce |url=http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=11007 |title=SS Maheno |date=2012 |work=[[Clyde-built Ship Database]] |access-date=21 November 2012 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111219070524/http://clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=11007 |archive-date=19 December 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> |route=New Zealand — Australia |ordered= |awarded= |builder=[[William Denny and Brothers]], [[Dumbarton]] |original_cost= |yard_number=746<ref name="Clydebuilt"/> |way_number= |laid_down= |launched=19 June 1905<ref name="Clydebuilt"/> |sponsor= |christened= |completed= |acquired= |in_service=November 1905 |out_of_service=1935 |renamed= |reclassified= |refit= |struck= |reinstated= |homeport= |identification=[[Official number]]: 117588<ref name="Clydebuilt"/> |motto= |nickname= |fate=Wrecked, July 1935 |notes= |badge= }}
|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |class= |type=[[Ocean liner]] |tonnage=*{{GRT|5,323}} *{{NRT|3,318}}<ref name="Clydebuilt"/> |displacement= |length= {{Convert|400|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="Clydebuilt"/> |beam= {{Convert|50|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="Clydebuilt"/> |height= |draught= |depth= {{Convert|31|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="Clydebuilt"/> |hold_depth= |decks= |deck_clearance= |power= |propulsion=*3 × [[Charles Algernon Parsons|Parsons]] [[steam turbines]] *3 screws<ref name="Argus7Nov"/> |speed= {{Convert|17.5|kn|lk=in}}<ref name="Argus7Nov"/> |range= |endurance= |boats= |capacity=* 420 passengers:<ref name="Argus7Nov"/> * 240 × 1st class * 120 × 2nd class * 60 × 3rd class
|crew= |armour= |notes= }} }} '''SS ''Maheno''''' was an [[ocean liner]] belonging to the [[Union Company]] of New Zealand that operated in the [[Tasman Sea]], 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]] (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]] of [[Dumbarton]], Scotland, and launched on 19 June 1905.<ref name="Clydebuilt"/> At 400 feet in length and 50 feet in the beam, she was powered by three [[Charles Algernon Parsons|Parsons]] [[steam turbines|turbines]], 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 [[C. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik|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.<ref name="Argus7Nov">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10011397 |title=THE MAHENO. |work=[[The Argus (Melbourne)|The Argus]] |location=Melbourne |date=7 November 1905 |access-date=15 September 2013 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=11 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811053630/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10011397 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Service history== The ship was named after [[Maheno, New Zealand|Maheno]], a township in Otago,<ref name="Melbourne Dental School" /> and entered service on 18 November 1905. She was employed on routes between Sydney and Melbourne via ports in New Zealand and [[Hobart]], Tasmania, and also made regular voyages between Sydney and [[Vancouver]].<ref name="Argus7Nov"/>
===World War I=== [[File:Hospital Ship Maheno.jpg|thumb|left|The New Zealand hospital ship ''Maheno'']] During World War I ''Maheno'' was converted into a [[hospital ship]] using money raised by an appeal by the [[Arthur Foljambe, 2nd Earl of Liverpool|Earl of Liverpool]], the [[Governor-General of New Zealand|Governor-General]]. She was fitted with eight wards and two operating theatres, and had a medical team consisting of five doctors and 61 [[orderlies]] from the [[Royal New Zealand Army Medical Corps|Army Medical Corps]], a [[matron]], thirteen [[nursing sister]]s, from the newly formed [[New Zealand Army Nursing Service]] and [[chaplain]]s.<ref name="Elliott">{{cite book |last1=Elliott |first1=J.S. |editor1-first=H.T.B |editor1-last=Drew |title=The War Effort of New Zealand |url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH1-Effo.html |date=1923 |publisher=[[Whitcoulls|Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd]] |location=Auckland |pages=127–137 |chapter=The New Zealand Hospital Ships |chapter-url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH1-Effo-t1-body-d7.html |access-date=21 November 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111083516/http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH1-Effo.html |archive-date=11 November 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> In accordance with Article 5<ref>{{cite web |url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/hague993.asp#art5 |title=Convention for the Adaptation to Maritime Warfare of Principles of Geneva Convention of 1864 (Article 5) |work=[[Lillian Goldman Law Library]] |date=29 July 1899 |access-date=21 November 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810223248/http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/hague993.asp#art5 |archive-date=10 August 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> of the [[Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907|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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/hospital-ship-maheno |title=Hospital ship ''Maheno'' |work=[[Ministry for Culture and Heritage]] |date=30 August 2012 |access-date=21 November 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121101205120/http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/hospital-ship-maheno |archive-date=1 November 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> ''HMNZHS Maheno'' arrived at [[Moudros]], 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 (Gallipoli)|Battle of Hill 60]]. Over the next three months, she carried casualties from Gallipoli to Malta. They were cared for by members of the [[New Zealand Army Nursing Service]] including [[Evelyn Brooke]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Evelyn Brooke|url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/eg-brooke|website=nzhistory.govt.nz|publisher=NZHistory|access-date=11 July 2017|language=en|date=17 May 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706055114/https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/eg-brooke|archive-date=6 July 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref> ''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]]. Until October 1916 she operated in the [[English Channel]], returning large numbers of wounded and sick troops from the [[Western Front (World War I)|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]], bringing back patients.<ref name="Elliott"/> 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 (New Zealand surgeon)|William Collins]] on her first voyage and [[James Sands Elliott|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.<ref>{{cite book |last= McLean |first= Gavin |title=The White Ships: New Zealand's First World War Hospital Ships |year=2013 |publisher=New Zealand Ship and Marine Society |location= Wellington |isbn= 978-0-473-24977-9 |pages= 78–80, 141 }}</ref>
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<ref name="Cairns10July">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page2963981 |title=SHIPPING IN THE BIG BLOW: MAHENO MYSTERY |work=[[The Cairns Post]] |location=Cairns, Queensland |date=10 July 1935 |access-date=21 November 2012 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=11 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811053648/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/2963981 |url-status=live }}</ref> by the 1,758-ton ship ''Oonah'', a former [[Tasmanian Steamers|Tasmanian Steamers Pty. Ltd.]] [[Bass Strait]] ferry, built in 1888, which along with the ''Maheno'' had been sold to the shipbreaker's yard ''Miyachi K.K.K.'' in [[Osaka]], Japan.<ref name="WMail11July">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38936764 |title=SHIPS IN PERIL: ADRIFT OFF EAST COAST |work=[[Western Mail (Western Australia)|Western Mail]] |location=Perth |date=11 July 1935 |access-date=21 November 2012 |page=11 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=11 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811053639/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/38936764 |url-status=live }}</ref> The ships were linked by a {{Convert|900|ft|adj=on}} {{Convert|6.75|in|cm|adj=on}} wire rope.<ref name="Cairns10July"/>
On the afternoon of 7 July,<ref name="WMail11July"/> about 50 miles from the coast,<ref name="WMail11July"/> the towline parted in a [[cyclone]]. 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.<ref name="Cairns10July"/> The ''Oonah'', with its steering gear temporarily disabled, broadcast a radio message requesting assistance for ''Maheno'', whose propellers had been removed.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article92317964 |title=TWO STEAMERS ADRIFT IN CYCLONE |work=Adelaide Chronicle |date=11 July 1935 |access-date=21 November 2012 |page=28 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=11 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811053607/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/92317964 |url-status=live }}</ref> ''Maheno'' was subsequently found on 10 July by an aircraft piloted by [[Keith Virtue]], beached off the coast of [[K'gari]] (Fraser Island).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article54784636 |title=MAHENO LOCATED AGROUND AT FRASER ISLAND |work=[[The Morning Bulletin]] |location=Rockhampton, Queensland |date=11 July 1935 |access-date=21 November 2012 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> The crew had set up camp onshore, waiting for the ''Oonah'' to arrive, which it did on 12 July.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article36775025 |title=TERRIFYING ORDEAL ON THE MAHENO |work=[[The Courier-Mail]] |location=Brisbane |date=12 July 1935 |access-date=21 November 2012 |page=13 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=11 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811053640/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/36775025 |url-status=live }}</ref> In January 1936 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 organ.<ref>{{cite book |last= McLean |first= Gavin |title= The White Ships: New Zealand's First World War Hospital Ships |year= 2013 |publisher=New Zealand Ship and Marine Society |location= Wellington |isbn= 978-0-473-24977-9 |pages= 183–185 }}</ref><ref>[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/62972015 Wedding photo, ''Townsville Daily Bulletin'', January 20, 1936]</ref><ref>[https://filmhiradokonline.hu/watch.php?id=1822 Wedding Footage, ''Hungarian Newsreel 632'', March 1936]</ref> The stranded ship was also used as a venue for an experiment in [[SS Canonbar#‘Rocket mail’ (1934)|'rocket mail']] in August 1935.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1935-08-12|title=ROCKET MAIL|pages=4|work=Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay and Burnett Advertiser (Qld. : 1860 – 1947)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article149969380|access-date=2020-12-28|archive-date=11 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811053610/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/149969380|url-status=live}}</ref>
The ship was subsequently stripped of its fittings,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article81710066 |title=FITTINGS OF STRANDED MAHENO |work=Singleton Argus |location=New South Wales |date=19 July 1935 |access-date=21 November 2012 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=11 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811053653/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/81710066 |url-status=live }}</ref> but attempts to refloat her failed. The wreck was subsequently offered for sale, but no buyers could be found for it.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17324019 |title=UNWANTED SHIP |work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=28 March 1936 |access-date=21 November 2012 |page=17 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=11 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811053638/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/17324019 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Wreck== ''Maheno'' has remained at the location since, slowly corroding away. Owing to the now dangerous condition of the ship, access is prohibited.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nprsr.qld.gov.au/parks/fraser/pdf/maheno-access-prohibited.pdf |title=Access to Maheno prohibited |date=2010 |work=[[Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service]] |access-date=21 November 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121222074442/http://www.nprsr.qld.gov.au/parks/fraser/pdf/maheno-access-prohibited.pdf |archive-date=22 December 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> The [[Department of Defence (Australia)|Australian Department of Defence]] lists the wreck as a site of [[unexploded ordnance]] (UXO) contamination.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.defence.gov.au/uxo/drn_reports/summary_state.asp?State=QLD |title=List of UXO Contamination Sites in Queensland |date=June 2010 |work=[[Department of Defence (Australia)|Department of Defence]] |access-date=21 November 2012 }}</ref><ref name="Melbourne Dental School">{{cite web |title=The wreck of the TSS Maheno – an ANZAC story |date=20 July 2018 |url=https://dental.unimelb.edu.au/engage/alumni/dent-al-newsletter/the-tss-maheno |publisher=[[University of Melbourne]] |access-date=19 February 2022 |archive-date=19 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220219203648/https://dental.unimelb.edu.au/engage/alumni/dent-al-newsletter/the-tss-maheno |url-status=live }}</ref>
Annual [[Anzac Day]] services are held at the site of the wreck and a replica of the ship's bell is located there.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Walton|first=Steven|date=2022-02-18|title=The fascinating history of a WWI ship that has rested on a beach for 86 years|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/127609765/the-fascinating-history-of-a-wwi-ship-that-has-rested-on-a-beach-for-86-years|access-date=2022-02-25|website=Stuff|language=en|archive-date=25 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220225065202/https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/127609765/the-fascinating-history-of-a-wwi-ship-that-has-rested-on-a-beach-for-86-years|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{Gallery | title = SS ''Maheno'' on K'gari (Fraser Island) | align = center | footer = | style = | state = | height = | width = | captionstyle = | File:StateLibQld 1 163239 Maheno (ship).jpg | The ''Maheno'' beached | alt1= | File:Fraser Island shipwreck of Maheno (ship 1905) IGP4364.jpg | The hulk of ''Maheno'' in 2007 | alt2= | File:SS Maheno on Fraser Island 2013-12-30.jpg | The hulk of ''Maheno'' in 2013 | alt3= |File:Wrack der S.S. Maheno (März 2023).jpg|Wreck of ''Maheno'' in March 2023}}
== See also == * [[Charlotte Le Gallais]] *[[SS Marama]]: sister ship; His Majesty's New Zealand Hospital Ship No. 2. {{Portal|Queensland}} * [[List of shipwrecks of Australia]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == {{Commons category|Maheno (ship, 1905)|SS Maheno}} * [https://www.archives.govt.nz/images/the-hospital-ship-maheno Painting ''The hospital ship "Maheno"''] (1915) by [[Walter Armiger Bowring]] in Archives New Zealand
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Maheno, SS}} [[Category:1905 ships]] [[Category:1935 in Australia]] [[Category:Auxiliary ships of the Royal New Zealand Navy]] [[Category:Ships built on the River Clyde]] [[Category:K'gari]] [[Category:Hospital ships in World War I]] [[Category:Maritime incidents in 1935]] [[Category:Passenger ships of New Zealand]] [[Category:Ships of the Union Steam Ship Company]] [[Category:Shipwrecks of Queensland]] [[Category:World War I auxiliary ships of New Zealand]] [[Category:Hospital ships of New Zealand]] [[Category:1930s in Queensland]]