Wanganella was an Australian-registered merchant vessel constructed by the Harland and Wolff

Harland and Wolff

Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries is a Northern Irish heavy industrial company, specialising in shipbuilding and offshore construction, located in Belfast, Northern Ireland....

 shipyards and entering service as a trans-Tasman

Trans-Tasman

Trans-Tasman is an adjective used primarily in Australia and New Zealand, which signifies an interrelationship between both countries. Its name originates from the Tasman Sea which lies between the two countries...

 passenger liner in 1933. Originally named Achimota, the liner was acquired by Huddart Parker

Huddart Parker

Huddart Parker Limited was an Australian shipping company trading in various forms between 1876 and 1961. It was one of the seven major coastal shippers in Australia at a time when shipping was the principal means of interstate and trans-tasman transport. The company started in Geelong, but in 1890...

 after the original sale to The Royal Mail Group fell through.

Renamed Wanganella, the ship sailed between New Zealand and Australia until 1941, when she was converted into a hospital ship

Hospital ship

A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital; most are operated by the military forces of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones....

. As Australian Hospital Ship (AHS) Wanganella, the ship operated in support of Australian forces until 1946, when she was returned to her civilian operator. During 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

Doubtful Sound

Doubtful Sound is a very large and naturally imposing fjord in Fiordland, in the far south west of New Zealand. It is located in the same region as the smaller but more famous and accessible Milford Sound...

, New Zealand, and used as a hostel for construction workers building the Manapouri Power Station

Manapouri Power Station

Manapouri Power Station is an underground hydroelectric power station on the western arm of Lake Manapouri in Fiordland National Park, in the South Island of New Zealand...

 until 1970. In April 1970, a tug towed Wanganella to Hong Kong, then later Taiwan, where she was scrapped.

Construction

Wanganella was built at the Harland and Wolff

Harland and Wolff

Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries is a Northern Irish heavy industrial company, specialising in shipbuilding and offshore construction, located in Belfast, Northern Ireland....

 shipyards in Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

 and launched on 17 December 1929. She was originally christened Achimota, and destined for use as a mail and passenger liner for the West African trade. The commissioning owners, The Royal Mail Group, suffered financial trouble as a result of the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

, and Harland & Wolff sold Achimota to defray building expenses. The vessel was bought by the Melbourne-based Australian shipping company Huddart Parker

Huddart Parker

Huddart Parker Limited was an Australian shipping company trading in various forms between 1876 and 1961. It was one of the seven major coastal shippers in Australia at a time when shipping was the principal means of interstate and trans-tasman transport. The company started in Geelong, but in 1890...

 at a bargain-basement price in September 1932, and commenced regular service on 12 January 1933.

Pre-World War II

Renamed Wanganella, the ship operated as a top-rated trans-Tasman passenger liner, with accommodation for 304 First Class and 104 Second Class passengers. She primarily sailed between the cities of Auckland and Wellington in New Zealand, and Sydney and Melbourne in Australia, making the Tasman Sea crossing in three and a half days.
On 28 December 1937, she collided with a trawler off the coast of New South Wales.

On 19 June 1940 she assisted with the rescue of passengers from the RMS Niagara

RMS Niagara

RMS Niagara was an ocean liner launched on 17 August 1912 and owned by the Union Steam Ship Company. She was nicknamed "the Titanic of the Pacific", but after the sinking of the real RMS Titanic this was dropped in favour of "Queen of the Pacific"...

, after the latter hit a mine and sank off the coast of Auckland.

Hospital ship

During World War II, Wanganella was converted to serve as an Australian Hospital Ship

Hospital ship

A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital; most are operated by the military forces of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones....

 (AHS). Between 19 May 1941 and 1946, AHS Wanganella carried wounded and sick evacuees from the Middle East, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Borneo and the South Pacific, travelling over 251011 nautical miles (464,872 km) and transporting 13,385 wounded.
A recently-liberated soldier from Batu Lintang camp

Batu Lintang camp

Batu Lintang camp at Kuching, Sarawak on the island of Borneo was a Japanese internment camp during the Second World War. It was unusual in that it housed both Allied prisoners of war and civilian internees...

, Kuching, Sarawak wrote of her:

Post-war

On her maiden voyage after the war, Wanganella had a narrow escape when she ran aground on Barrett Reef

Barrett Reef

The cluster of rocks that is Barrett Reef is one of the most treacherous reefs in New Zealand.It lies on the western side of the entrance of Wellington Harbour, on the approaches to the city of Wellington, at coordinates . The reef is named after Richard Barrett , a whaler and trader. Its Maori...

 (later to claim Wahine

Wahine (ship)

Wahine may refer to:*TSS Wahine was an inter-island ferry that ran between Lyttelton and Wellington, New Zealand. It was used as a minelayer in the first world war, and saw active service as a troop ship during World War II....

 with 51 lives lost - see Wahine disaster

Wahine disaster

The Wahine disaster occurred on 10 April 1968 when the TEV Wahine, a New Zealand inter-island ferry of the Union Company, foundered on Barrett Reef at the entrance to Wellington Harbour and capsized near Steeple Rock...

) at the entrance to Wellington Harbour in New Zealand. On 19 January 1947, while making its first trans-Tasman voyage after the war, Wanganella struck Barrett Reef just before midnight and stuck fast. The weather conditions were unusually benign, and remained so for the 18 days the ship spent on the reef. (Such benign weather is still known in Wellington as "Wanganella weather"). No-one was injured, and the passengers were taken off the ship the morning after the accident. The damage she incurred put her out of action for twenty-two months, mainly as a result of industrial action while she was laid-up in a floating dock for repairs.
Wanganella was caught up again in industrial action; this time in the 1951 New Zealand waterfront dispute

1951 New Zealand waterfront dispute

The 1951 New Zealand waterfront dispute was the largest and most widespread industrial dispute in New Zealand history. During the time, up to twenty thousand workers went on strike in support of waterfront workers protesting financial hardships and working conditions. Thousands more refused to...

. This 151-day-long industrial battle between the employers and the watersiders in New Zealand began when watersiders refused to work overtime. The New Zealand Government, hand-in-glove with the employers, was determined to smash the union and introduced Emergency Regulations. The army was brought in to work the wharves. Wanganella became involved in smuggling money and manpower between Australia and New Zealand, with her Australian crew carrying thousands of pounds

Pound (currency)

The pound is a unit of currency in some nations. The term originated in England as the value of a pound of silver.The word pound is the English translation of the Latin word libra, which was the unit of account of the Roman Empire...

 to New Zealand from various unions in Australia, in support of their New Zealand comrades.

In about 1960, Wanganella was acquired by the scrap metal dealer Albert G Sims, and was sent to Sigapore for breaking up as scrap

Ship breaking

Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...

. However, there was a drop in scrap metal prices, and the ship returned to service on the Sydney to Auckland run, under the control of the Hong Kong based Hang Fung Shipping and Trading Company.

Hostel ship

During the 1950s and 1960s, the expansion of civilian air travel made trans-Tasman shipping obsolete. In 1963, shortly before the ship was due to be scrapped, engineers working on the construction of the Manapouri Power Station

Manapouri Power Station

Manapouri Power Station is an underground hydroelectric power station on the western arm of Lake Manapouri in Fiordland National Park, in the South Island of New Zealand...

 in New Zealand acquired Wanganella. Between 1963 and 1970, Wanganella was moored in Doubtful Sound

Doubtful Sound

Doubtful Sound is a very large and naturally imposing fjord in Fiordland, in the far south west of New Zealand. It is located in the same region as the smaller but more famous and accessible Milford Sound...

to be used as a hostel for workers building the tailrace tunnel, and the Wilmot Pass access road. Wanganella was sold for scrap in 1970, and was towed to Hong Kong, then Taiwan. The cove in which Wanganella was moored and the stream that supplied the water to the liner are now gazetted as Wanganella Cove and Wanganella Stream.