MV Macdhui (1930)

MV Macdhui was a steel hull passenger and cargo motor vessel built by Barclay Curle & Company at the Clydeholm Yard, Whiteinch, Scotland for Burns, Philp & Company, Limited, Sydney NSW, Australia.[1][2] The ship was launched on 23 December 1930 and completed during March 1931.[1] The ship operated with the company's Burns, Philp Line with service to Papua and New Guinea.[3] She was sunk in 1942, as a result of damage suffered by being hit by bombs from Japanese aircraft, near Port Moresby.

MV Macdhui
History
Name: Macdhui
Owner: Burns, Philp & Company, Limited
Operator: Burns, Philp Line
Port of registry: Sydney
Builder: Barclay Curle & Company, Whiteinch
Yard number: 644
Launched: 23 December 1930
Completed: March 1931
Identification:
  • Official number: 157594
  • Signal: LGVM
Fate: Bombed 17 & 18 June 1942, burned, total loss
General characteristics [1][2]
Type: Passenger and Cargo ship
Tonnage: 4,561 GRT
Length: 341.9 ft (104.2 m) Registered
Beam: 51.2 ft (15.6 m)
Draught: 22 ft 0.75 in (6.7 m)
Depth: 29.1 ft (8.9 m)
Propulsion: Oil 8cyl, 653nhp
Speed: 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h)

History

Macdhui was a three deck ship registered with Sydney as port of registry, official number 157594, signal LGVM, 4,561 GRT with registered length of 341.9 ft (104.2 m), breadth of 51.2 ft (15.6 m), 22 ft 0.75 in (6.7 m) draft with an eight-cylinder engine built by J G Kincaid & Co. Ltd., Greenock.[1][2] On trials the ship attained a speed of 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h) and a wireless record establishing direct contact with Sydney from Scotland.[4] Macdhui crossed the Atlantic and after a rough voyage transited the Panama Canal, acquiring a ship's cat for luck at Balboa, on the delivery voyage to Australia.[5]

On 20 June 1937, a serious fire broke out in the ship's engine room in the early hours of the morning, putting the ship in danger. Passengers were ordered into the boats. By four in the morning the engine room fire was out, but damage was severe and the engines were disabled. The European passengers were taken back aboard with some 150 islanders as deck passengers, and were then put ashore at Fortification Point. A second, minor fire broke out in the number four hold, and was quickly put out. Responding to the distress call Neptuna, another of the company's ships, reached Macdhui the next day to tow the disabled ship to port.[6]

In December 1941 with Japanese threatening islands to the north the Australian government decided to begin evacuating women and children from New Guinea, Papua, and Darwin. Macdhui along with Katoomba, Neptuna, and Zealandia transported the evacuees to ports in Australia out of immediate danger.[7] After Japanese landing on Rabaul some of the troops evacuated to Port Moresby were transported to Townsville aboard Macdhui in late April 1942.[8]

After the initial bombing on 19 February 1942, Japanese air raids continued on Darwin during June, with a sixteenth raid on 13 June. Raids continued each night through to the 17 June, when Port Moresby had its 61st raid. Macdhui was hit, first amidships, then gutted, with three crew and one military working party member killed. The next day the ship was again hit and became a total loss.[9]

In 2019, the ship's hull was still visible off the village of Hanubada.

References
  1. "Scottish Built Ships: Macdhui". Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. 2018. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  2. Lloyds. "Lloyd's Register 1933–34" (PDF). Lloyd's Register (through PlimsollShipData). Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  3. "Dinner menu". Australian National Maritime Museum. 2 December 1938. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  4. "New Burns, Philp Motorship, Macdhui". Pacific Islands Monthly. Sydney: Pacific Publications. 1 (8): 3. 17 March 1931. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  5. "Luck of the Macdhui". Pacific Islands Monthly. Sydney: Pacific Publications. 1 (11): 9. 19 June 1931. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  6. "Macdhui on Fire off N.G. Coast". Pacific Islands Monthly. Sydney: Pacific Publications. 7 (11): 4. 23 June 1937. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  7. Gill 1957, pp. 495–496.
  8. Gill 1957, pp. 549–550.
  9. Gill 1968, p. 88.

Bibliography
  • Gill, G. Hermon (1957). Royal Australian Navy 1939–1942. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 2 – Navy. 1. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. LCCN 58037940. Retrieved 6 December 2018.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Gill, G. Hermon (1968). Royal Australian Navy 1942-1945. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 2 – Navy. 2. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. LCCN 76454854. Retrieved 6 December 2018.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

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