SS Mareeba
{{Short description|Australian cargo ship sunk in 1941}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2014}}
{{Use Australian English|date=April 2018}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= SS Mareeba.jpg |Ship caption= Aerial view of Mareeba }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|Australia|civil}} |Ship country= Australia |Ship name= *1921: Echuca
|Ship namesake= |Ship owner= *1921: Commonwealth Line |Ship operator= |Ship registry= Melbourne |Ship builder= Walkers Ltd, Maryborouogh |Ship original cost= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= 6 July 1921 |Ship completed= November 1921 |Ship acquired= |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship identification= *UK official number 132479
|Ship fate= sunk 26 June 1941 }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class= |Ship type= cargo ship |Ship tonnage= {{GRT|3362}}, {{NRT|1924}} |Ship length= {{cvt|332.7|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship beam= {{cvt|47.1|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship draught= {{convert|23|ft|10|in|1|abbr=on}} |Ship depth= {{cvt|27.1|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship hold depth= |Ship decks= 1 |Ship power= 520 NHP |Ship propulsion= *1 × triple-expansion engine
|Ship speed= |Ship capacity= |Ship crew= 48 |Ship armament= |Ship notes= }} |
SS Mareeba was an Australian cargo steamship that was built in 1921 for the Commonwealth Line as Echuca,{{Cite web |url=http://www.northqueenslandatwar.com/htdocs/reviews.htm |title=North Queensland at War |access-date=17 March 2008 |archive-date=19 August 2006 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20060819232842/http://www.northqueenslandatwar.com/htdocs/reviews.htm |url-status=dead }} named after the town of Echuca in the state of Victoria. In 1924 the Australasian United Steam Navigation Company bought her and renamed her after the town of Mareeba, Queensland.[http://www.bismarck-class.dk/bismarck_class/hilfskreuzer/kormoran.html Hilfskreuzer (Auxiliary Cruiser / Raider) – Kormoran]
Loss
On 26 June 1941 the {{ship|German auxiliary cruiser|Kormoran}} sank her [http://www.awm.gov.au/Encyclopedia/hmas_sydney/komoran.htm HMAS Sydney II – Auxiliary cruiser Kormoran] in the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean.{{Cite web |url=http://www.naa.gov.au/naaresources/publications/research_guides/guides/sydney/pages/chapter10.htm |title=The Sinking of HMAS Sydney: 10. Replacing the Sydney and Writing the Official History |access-date=17 March 2008 |archive-date=21 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080721095912/http://www.naa.gov.au/naaresources/Publications/research_guides/guides/sydney/pages/chapter10.htm |url-status=dead }}[http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/Logon.asp?N=guest Australian National Archives]{{Dead link|date=December 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} – Sinking of the SS Mareeba – Barcode: 404718 Series Number: MP1049/5 Series accession number: MP1049/5/0 Control symbol: 2026/10/1855 She was carrying 5000 tons of sugar from Batavia to Colombo when she picked up the Yugoslav cargo ship Velebit's distress signal. Instead of immediately stopping, Mareeba radioed her position and tried to escape, presumably because at 08:00 hrs that morning she had spotted the Royal Navy light cruiser {{HMS|Durban|D99|6}} in the Ten Degree Channel.[http://www.deutschland-class.dk/hilfskreuzer/kormoran.html Hilfskreuzer (Auxiliary Cruiser / Raider) – Kormoran] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080212065112/http://www.deutschland-class.dk/hilfskreuzer/kormoran.html |date=12 February 2008 }} Nine shells hit her hull, several of them in her engine-room. She was sinking only slowly, so a German boarding party scuttled her with explosive charges to sink her quickly. It was later said that Mareeba would have made a fine auxiliary minelayer because of her durability.
Crew
All 48 of Mareeba{{'}}s crew became prisoners of war and were taken away aboard Kormoran, which sailed at top speed through the night and most of the next day to avoid retaliation for the sinkings.
The captured crew stayed aboard Kormoran for a total of 103 days, where they were housed in the fore part of the ship below the waterline. They slept in hammocks and were allowed on deck daily. After 103 days they were transferred to the German supply ship {{ship||Kulmerland|ship|2}}. After another 15 days they were transferred to the German cargo ship {{MV|Spreewald||2}}.
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book |year=1922 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers and Motor Vessels |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Internet Archive |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1923ST/page/n346/mode/1up |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1922}} }}
- {{cite book |year=1924 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers and Motorships |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Internet Archive |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1925ST/page/n1438/mode/1up |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1924}} }}
- {{cite book |year=1934 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers and Motorships of 300 tons gross and over |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Southampton City Council |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/34/34b0541.pdf |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1934}} }}
- {{cite book |year=1930 |title=Mercantile Navy List |place=London |via=Crew List Index Project |url= https://www.crewlist.org.uk/data/viewimages?name=Mareeba&year=1930&submit=Enter |ref={{harvid|Mercantile Navy List 1930}} }}
External links
- [http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/pictoria/b/4/5/doc/b45902.shtml Hand drawn image of Mareeba] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20110612094507/http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/pictoria/b/4/5/doc/b45902.shtml |date=12 June 2011 }}
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{{June 1941 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mareeba, SS}}
Category:Cargo ships of Australia
Category:Iron and steel steamships of Australia
Category:Maritime incidents in June 1941
Category:Scuttled vessels of Australia
Category:Shipwrecks in the Bay of Bengal