SS Maheno
Hand-coloured postcard of the SS Maheno
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| History | |
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 New Zealand
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| Name: | SS Maheno |
| Owner: | Union Company, Dunedin |
| Port of registry: | Wellington |
| Route: | New Zealand — Australia |
| Builder: | William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton |
| Yard number: | 746 |
| Launched: | 19 June 1905 |
| In service: | November 1905 |
| Out of service: | 1935 |
| Identification: | Official number: 117588 |
| Fate: | Wrecked, July 1935 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Ocean liner |
| Tonnage: | |
| Length: | 400 ft (120 m) |
| Beam: | 50 ft (15 m) |
| Depth: | 31 ft (9.4 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 17.5 knots (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph) |
| Capacity: |
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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. She was washed ashore on Fraser Island by a cyclone in 1935 where the disintegrating wreck remains as a popular tourist attraction.
The 5,000-ton steel-hulled ship was built by William Denny and Brothers of Dumbarton, 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, giving her 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.
The ship entered service on 18 November 1905, and was employed on routes between Sydney and Melbourne via ports in New Zealand and Hobart, Tasmania. She also made regular voyages between Sydney and Vancouver.
During World War I Maheno was converted into a hospital ship using money raised by an appeal by the Earl of Liverpool, the 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 Army Medical Corps, a matron, thirteen nursing sisters, from the newly formed New Zealand Army Nursing Service and chaplains. 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.
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