MS Wanganella
20th-century Australian ocean liner / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
MS Wanganella was an Australian-registered ocean liner built by Harland and Wolff that entered service on the trans-Tasman route in 1933. Originally named Achimota, she was acquired by Huddart Parker after the original sale to Elder Dempster Lines fell through.
Australian ex-POWs being transferred to the hospital ship Wanganella two days after their liberation from Batu Lintang camp, Kuching, Sarawak, on the island of Borneo in September 1945 | |
History | |
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Australia | |
Name | Wanganella |
Namesake | Wanganella, NSW |
Owner | Huddart Parker |
Port of registry | Melbourne |
Route | Trans-Tasman |
Builder | Harland and Wolff, Belfast |
Yard number | 849 |
Launched | 17 December 1929 |
Completed | 29 November 1932 |
In service | 12 January 1933 |
Reclassified |
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Homeport | Melbourne |
Identification |
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Fate | Scrapped in Taiwan in 1970 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Ocean liner |
Tonnage | 9,576 GRT, 5,625 NRT |
Length | 461.2 ft (140.6 m) |
Beam | 63.9 ft (19.5 m) |
Draught | 7.6 m (25 ft)[citation needed] |
Depth | 29.1 ft (8.9 m) |
Installed power | 1,305 NHP, 6,750 bhp |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 16.7 knots (30.9 km/h) |
Capacity | 304 First Class, 104 Second Class |
Crew | 160 |
Sensors and processing systems | wireless direction finding |
Renamed Wanganella, the ship sailed between New Zealand and Australia until 1941, when she was converted into a hospital ship. As Australian Hospital Ship (AHS) Wanganella, the ship operated in support of Australian forces until 1946, when she was returned to her civilian operator. In the 1950s and 1960s Wanganella was affected by several incidents of industrial action by wharf labourers.
The increase in travel by air made operating the ship less viable, but before the ship was due to be scrapped in 1963, she was acquired and moored in Doubtful Sound, New Zealand, and used as a hostel for construction workers building the Manapouri Power Station until 1970. In April 1970, a tug towed Wanganella to Hong Kong, then later Taiwan, where she was scrapped.