TSS Kanowna

{{Use Australian English|date=March 2012}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}} {{coord|39|18|36|S|146|07|48|E|display=Title}} {{Infobox ship |display_title=TSS ''Kanowna'' |section1={{Infobox ship/image |image=Kanowna I.JPG |image_caption=An undated photograph of ''Kanowna'' }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career |country=Australia |flag={{shipboxflag|Australia|civil}} |name=''Kanowna'' |namesake= |owner= |operator=[[Australian United Steam Navigation Company]] |registry= |route=[[Sydney]] to [[Fremantle, Western Australia|Fremantle]] |ordered= |awarded= |builder=[[William Denny and Brothers]], [[Dumbarton]], [[Scotland]] |original_cost= |yard_number= |way_number= |laid_down= |launched= |sponsor= |christened= |completed= |acquired= |maiden_voyage= |in_service= |out_of_service= |renamed= |reclassified= |refit= |struck= |reinstated= |homeport= |identification= |motto= |nickname= |honours= |fate=Ran aground and sank, 19 February 1929 |notes= |badge= }}

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |class= |type= |tonnage=6,993 tons |length={{convert|126|m}} |beam= |height= |draught= |draft= |depth= |hold_depth= |decks= |deck_clearance= |ramps= |ice_class= |power= |propulsion= |sail_plan= |speed= |range= |endurance= |test_depth= |boats= |capacity= |troops= |complement= |crew= |time_to_activate= |sensors= |EW= |armament= |armour= |armor= |aircraft= |aircraft_facilities= |notes= }} }} '''TSS ''Kanowna''''', was an Australian [[steamboat|steamer]] built during 1902. The 6,993-ton, {{convert|126|m|adj=on}} long ''Kanowna'' was constructed by [[William Denny and Brothers]] of [[Dumbarton]], [[Scotland]], and had a [[twin screw steamer|twin screw]] design.<ref name=SOE>{{cite web |title=TSS Kanowna |url=https://soe.org.au/projects/tss-kanowana/ |publisher=Southern Ocean Exploration Incorporated |access-date=16 July 2021}}</ref>

==Operational history== ''Kanowna'' was operated by the [[Australian United Steam Navigation Company]] (AUSNC), and it served the [[Sydney]] to [[Fremantle, Western Australia|Fremantle]] route.<ref name=SOE/>

[[File:Kanowna III.JPG|thumb|left|A 1914 photograph of ''Kanowna'' in [[Cairns]]]] During August and September 1914, ''Kanowna'' was requisitioned by the Australian military to [[troopship|transport]] 1,000 soldiers to [[German New Guinea]] as part of the [[Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force]].<ref name=FrameBaker72>Frame & Baker, ''Mutiny!'', p. 72</ref> Sailing late from Townsville on 8 August, the ship was forced to anchor off [[Thursday Island]] until 16 August, and did not arrive off [[Port Moresby]] until 6 September.<ref name=FrameBaker72/> The expeditionary force sailed the next day for Rabaul, but ''Kanowna'' fell behind the rest of the convoy, with the ship's master signalling to {{HMAS|Sydney|1912|6}} that his crew had [[mutiny|mutinied]]: the boiler stokers and firemen had stopped work.<ref name=FrameBaker73>Frame & Baker, ''Mutiny!'', p. 73</ref> In [[Arthur Wilberforce Jose|Arthur Jose]]'s [[Royal Australian Navy]]-focused volume of the ''[[Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918]]'', he claims that the mutiny was because these men refused to leave Australian waters, but [[Tom Frame (bishop)|Tom Frame]] and Kevin Baker state in ''Mutiny!'' that this is incorrect; the troopship was on short rations of food and water because of the delays sailing north and only minimal resupply in Port Moresby, but the stokers and firemen were requesting more water to remain hydrated in the hot boilerrooms and to wash off coal grime, and refused to work until this demand was met.<ref>Frame & Baker, ''Mutiny!'', pp. 72–3</ref><ref name=Jose78>Jose, ''The Royal Australian Navy 1914–1918'', p. 78</ref> The workers were taken into the custody of a party of soldiers, and the force's commander ordered ''Kanowna'' to return to Townsville, with soldiers volunteering to keep the ship running.<ref name=Jose78/><ref name=FrameBaker73/> The [[Australian Commonwealth Naval Board]] conducted an inquiry into the mutiny, even though as a civilian vessel, ''Kanowna'' technically wasn't under their jurisdiction.<ref name=FrameBaker73/> The state of the supplies was seen as a major contributing factor to the sailors' actions.<ref name=FrameBaker73/> ''Kanowna'' was returned to her owners on 21 September.<ref name=Jose488>Jose, ''The Royal Australian Navy 1914–1918'', p. 488</ref>

[[File:StateLibQld 1 103294 Kanowna (ship).jpg|thumb|left|''Kanowna'' in hospital ship livery]] On 1 June 1915, the vessel was requisitioned again for military service.<ref name=Jose488/> ''Kanowna'' transported soldiers and supplies to Egypt, then made for England, where she was modified for use as a hospital ship.<ref name=Jose488/> After completion, ''Kanowna'' could carry 452 wounded in cots, along with a medical staff of 88 in addition to her regular crew.<ref name=Jose489>Jose, ''The Royal Australian Navy 1914–1918'', p. 489</ref> Sailing in September, ''Kanowna'' was used to transport [[Royal Army Medical Corps]] personnel to locations throughout the Mediterranean, then collected wounded Australian personnel and transported them home.<ref name=Jose489/> She would make a total of 10 voyages between Australia and England in the next three years,<ref name="AWMdeparture"/> although some runs were made to England with British wounded.<ref name=Jose489/> In May 1917, the [[unrestricted submarine warfare]] campaign forced the ship to sail around Africa instead of through the Mediterranean: the nurses and medical staff were transported overland from Durban to London, and used to supplement hospital personnel until ''Kanowna'' arrived in July.<ref name=Jose489/> In October 1918, after the war's end, the hospital ship was sent to collect 900 British and Commonwealth prisoners-of-war that had been interred in Turkey.<ref name=Jose489/> ''Kanowna'' was returned to the AUSNC on 29 July 1919, and she resumed passenger and cargo service.<ref name=SOE/><ref name=Jose489/><ref name="AWMdeparture">{{cite web|url= http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C176739|title= Departure of the last Australian hospital ship from Southampton, England|publisher= [[Australian War Memorial]]|access-date=1 May 2019}}</ref>

==Fate== [[File:Kanowna II.JPG|thumb|right|Twelve nurses aboard ''Kanowna'', to service the hospital ship]] On 18 February 1929, ''Kanowna'' ran into rocks near [[Cleft Island (Victoria)|Cleft Island]] while on a voyage between Sydney and Melbourne.<ref name=SOE/><ref name=VHD>{{Cite VHD shipwreck|389|SS Kanowna}}</ref> Passengers were transferred to {{SS|Mackarra}}.<ref name=SOE/> Although it was initially thought that ''Kanowna'' could be saved by beaching, the ship's boilers had gone out.<ref name=SOE/> The crew were taken aboard {{SS|Dumosa}}, and ''Kanowna'' sank the following morning.<ref name=SOE/> A court of inquiry found the ship's master at fault for the loss, as he did not slow his ship or exercise due caution in the foggy conditions.<ref name=SOE/>

The exact location of the shipwreck was unknown until 2005.<ref name=SOE/> On 23 April, four divers found a shipwreck {{convert|50|km|mi}} into [[Bass Strait]] and submerged in approximately {{convert|80|m|ft}} of water, which was believed to be the former merchant ship.<ref name=SOE/> A more detailed inspection of the wreck site on 8 May allowed the divers to match the wreck with [[technical drawing|drawings]] of ''Kanowna''.<ref name=SOE/><ref>{{cite web |title=Report for Alcatel Submarine Networks- Indigo Central, 2126628 |url=http://epbcnotices.environment.gov.au/_entity/annotation/03a0e34e-eefb-e711-b305-005056ba00a7/a71d58ad-4cba-48b6-8dab-f3091fc31cd5?t=1533600000337 |publisher=[[GHD Group]] |access-date=17 July 2021 |page=20 |date=14 December 2017}}</ref>

==See also== *[[List of ships built by William Denny and Brothers]]

==References== {{reflist}}

==Other sources== *{{cite book |last=Frame |first=Tom |author2=Baker, Kevin |title=Mutiny! Naval Insurrections in Australia and New Zealand |publisher=Allen & Unwin |location=St. Leonards, NSW |year=2000 |isbn=1-86508-351-8 |oclc=46882022}} *{{Cite book|last=Jose |first=Arthur W. |title=The Royal Australian Navy 1914–1918 |publisher=Angus and Robertson |location=Sydney, NSW |orig-year=1928 |year=1941 |edition=9th |series=The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918 |volume=IX |oclc=215763279 |url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG1069926/}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanowna}} [[Category:1903 ships]] [[Category:Shipwrecks of Victoria (state)]] [[Category:Iron and steel steamships of Australia]] [[Category:Maritime accidents involving fog]] [[Category:Maritime incidents in 1929]] [[Category:Hospital ships of the Australian Army]]