SS Mareeba
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English
| Script error: No such module "InfoboxImage". Aerial view of Mareeba Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". |
SS Mareeba was an Australian cargo steamship that was built in 1921 for the Commonwealth Line as Echuca,[1] 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.[2]
Loss
On 26 June 1941 the Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". sank her [3] in the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean.[4][5] She was carrying 5000 tons of sugar from Batavia to Colombo[2] 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 Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities". in the Ten Degree Channel.[6] Nine shells hit her hull,[5] 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[2] because of her durability.
Crew
All 48 of MareebaTemplate:'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[2] 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 Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".. After another 15 days they were transferred to the German cargo ship Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities"..[5]
References
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b c d Hilfskreuzer (Auxiliary Cruiser / Raider) – Kormoran
- ↑ HMAS Sydney II – Auxiliary cruiser Kormoran
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b c Australian National ArchivesScript error: No such module "Unsubst". – Sinking of the SS Mareeba – Barcode: 404718 Series Number: MP1049/5 Series accession number: MP1049/5/0 Control symbol: 2026/10/1855
- ↑ Hilfskreuzer (Auxiliary Cruiser / Raider) – Kormoran Template:Webarchive
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Bibliography
- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
External links
Script error: No such module "Coordinates". Template:June 1941 shipwrecks
- Pages with script errors
- Pages with ignored display titles
- 1921 ships
- Cargo ships of Australia
- Iron and steel steamships of Australia
- Maritime incidents in June 1941
- Scuttled vessels of Australia
- Shipwrecks in the Bay of Bengal
- World War II merchant ships of Australia
- World War II shipwrecks in the Indian Ocean