Hospital Ship MANUNDA leaving for Morotai in 1945
Date1945
Object number00030088
NamePhotograph
MediumSilver gelatin print on paper
DimensionsOverall: 70 x 110 mm
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Jean B Hale
DescriptionThis black and white photograph shows the World War II hospital ship MANUNDA departing Darling Harbour. Also featured is the British Pacific Fleet ship FORT LANGLEY which had been launched on October 1944 as the MONTEBELLO PARK, and was commissioned on 18 May 1945 as FORT LANGLEY. The MANUNDA was bound for Morotai.HistoryThe MANUNDA was a 9915-ton passenger ship built in Glasgow in 1929 for the Adelaide Steamship Co. On 22 July 1940 the vessel was recommissioned as a hospital ship and remodelled. It became well known in the war years for its duties bringing wounded Australian soldiers home from the Middle East on four trips between 1940 and 1941.
The ship was also present in Darwin on 19 February 1942 when the city was bombed by Japanese aircraft. The ship's medical and nursing quarters were completely destroyed during this attack. After repairs MANUNDA was the first ship to arrive in Singapore after the Japanese surrender. It collected ex-prisoners from the camp at Changi and carried them to Labuan Island where they could recover and later be flown home to Australia. MANUNDA was scrapped in 1957.
