TSMV Manunda - Leaving port

Abstract

The Twin Screw Motor Vessel Manunda was built by William Beardmore and Company at Dalmuir in Scotland and was launched on 27 November 1928. Completed on 16 April 1929, she arrived in Australia in June 1929 to begin her duties on the Australian Coastal Trade, running passengers and cargo between Sydney, Fremantle, Melbourne and Cairns. The declaration of war in 1939 saw Manunda fitted out as DEMS ship (Defensively Equipped Merchant Ship), under the control of the Australian Shipping Control Board. She was converted into a hospital ship at Sydney in compliance with the Geneva Convention Regulations. Manunda was taken over by the authorities on 25 May 1940, and entered service as AHS Manunda on 22 July 1940.