SS Mareeba
Encyclopedia
The SS Mareeba was an Australian Freighter built in 1921 and named after the town of Mareeba
in Far North Queensland
, Australia
. She was a 3,472-ton Australasian United Steam Navigation Company vessel.
The Mareeba was attacked and sunk in the Bay of Bengal
on the 1941-06-16 by the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran
. She was carrying 5000 tons of sugar from Batavia to Colombo
when she picked up the Yugoslav freighter Velebit's distress signal. Instead of immediately stopping the Mareeba radioed her position and ran for it, presumably because at 8 o’clock that morning she had spotted the British light cruiser HMS Durban
, in the Ten Degree Channel
. She received 9 shots to her hull, several of which hit her engine-room, and, although she was slowing sinking, it took a team of German boarding party placing demolitions to sink her quickly. It would later be said that the Mareeba would have made a fine auxiliary minelayer because of her durability. All 48 of the crew of the Mareeba were captured and spirited away on the Komoran which traveled at top speed through the night and most of the following day to avoid retaliation for the sinkings.
, where, after 15 days, the prisoners were transferred to a German prison ship Spreewald
.
Below is an incomplete list of crew that were captured from the Mareeba.
Addition to crew captured by Kormoran.
Gordon J - Second Engineer
Mareeba, Queensland
Mareeba is a town on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland, Australia. The town is above sea level on the confluence of the Barron River, Granite Creek and Emerald Creek. The town's name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning meeting of the waters...
in Far North Queensland
Far North Queensland
Far North Queensland, or FNQ, is the northernmost part of the Australian state of Queensland. The region, which contains a large section of the Tropical North Queensland area, stretches from the city of Cairns north to the Torres Strait...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. She was a 3,472-ton Australasian United Steam Navigation Company vessel.
The Mareeba was attacked and sunk in the Bay of Bengal
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal , the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the west and Burma and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the...
on the 1941-06-16 by the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran
German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran
The German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran was a Kriegsmarine merchant raider of World War II. Originally the merchant vessel Steiermark, the ship was acquired by the Kriegsmarine following the outbreak of war for conversion into a raider...
. She was carrying 5000 tons of sugar from Batavia to Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
when she picked up the Yugoslav freighter Velebit's distress signal. Instead of immediately stopping the Mareeba radioed her position and ran for it, presumably because at 8 o’clock that morning she had spotted the British light cruiser HMS Durban
HMS Durban (D99)
HMS Durban was a Danae-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was launched from the yards of Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company on 29 May 1919 and commissioned on 1 November 1921.-Early career:...
, in the Ten Degree Channel
Ten Degree Channel
The Ten Degree Channel is a channel that separates the Andaman Islands from the Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal. The two sets of islands together form the Indian Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands....
. She received 9 shots to her hull, several of which hit her engine-room, and, although she was slowing sinking, it took a team of German boarding party placing demolitions to sink her quickly. It would later be said that the Mareeba would have made a fine auxiliary minelayer because of her durability. All 48 of the crew of the Mareeba were captured and spirited away on the Komoran which traveled at top speed through the night and most of the following day to avoid retaliation for the sinkings.
Crew
The captured crew stayed on the Komoran 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 the 103 days, they were transferred to a German supply ship KulmerlandKulmerland (ship)
The Kulmerland was a supply ship of the Kriegsmarine that operated during the Second World War in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. It was named after the Kulmerland region of Prussia, with the city of Kulm, which in 1920 was made part of the Polish Corridor.It supplied German auxiliary ships ...
, where, after 15 days, the prisoners were transferred to a German prison ship Spreewald
Spreewald (ship)
Spreewald was a German passenger-carrying freighter built in 1922 by Deutsche Werft at Hamburg for the Hamburg America Line. The ship was renamed Anubis in 1935, but reverted back to Spreewald in 1939. On 31 January 1942 when returning to Germany in disguise, she was sunk by .-Service history:At...
.
Below is an incomplete list of crew that were captured from the Mareeba.
- Anderson, Mr. (Chief Engineer)
- Bentley, Mr. (2nd Grade Steward)
- Bottomley, Mr. Jack (Trimmer)
- Dooley, Mr. Lionel(Fireman)
- Evans, Mr. (A.B.)
- Ford, Mr. Geoffrey (O.S.)
- Freeman, Mr David J. (1st Mate)
- Griffiths, Mr. Jack B. (Trimmer)
- Hayes, Mr. Dennis (Fireman)
- Hill, Mr. James A. (3rd Engineer)
- Holmes, Mr. (Third Wireless Operator)
- Humphries, Mr. (A.B.Able Seaman (occupation)An able seaman is an unlicensed member of the deck department of a merchant ship. An AB may work as a watchstander, a day worker, or a combination of these roles.-Watchstander:...
) - Jones, Mr William A. (Assistant Cook)
- Kitchen, Mr. (Deck Boy)
- Langtry, Mr. John (Trimmer)
- Lucas, Mr. J (A.B.)
- MacNeill, Mr. Calum Gilbert (A.B.)
- Marcusse, Mr. (Trimmer)
- McLelland, Mr. Leonard(Fireman)
- Melville, Mr. Albert (A.B)
- Pratt, Mr. William (1st Grade Steward)
- Ravenscroft, Mr. Samuel(Greaser)
- Redman, Mr. Ronald J. (1st Radio Operator)
- Riley, Mr. (4th Engineer)
- Rose, Mr. Robert L. (Bo'Sun)
- Sayer, Mr. Fred (Donkeyman)
- Skinner, Mr. (Captain)
- Sorensen, Mr. Robert (Chief Cook)
- Tesseyman, Mr. Joseph V. (Carpenter)
- Thorpe, Mr. Ashley (A.B.)
- Vanbrugel, Mr. (Assistant Cook)
- Vanderhusen, Mr. (Trimmer)
Addition to crew captured by Kormoran.
Gordon J - Second Engineer