SS Maheno I 1905-1935

The SS Maheno I was built by William Denny and Brothers in 1905 as a fast, luxury trans-Tasman passenger liner. It was a popular ship with passengers, carrying up to 420 people at a time, and included a refrigerated cargo hold, a dining room, smoking room, and a music room complete with a grand piano. The SS Maheno broke many passage records between Melbourne and Sydney, Wellington and Sydney and Bluff to Hobart. Notably, it was amongst the first turbine ships to cross the Pacific.

It was converted into a hospital ship in 1915, sent to Gallipoli, and fitted out with spaces for surgeries, x-ray facilities, and a padded cell for soldiers suffering from shellshock. The ship ferried wounded soldiers from the battlefield to makeshift hospitals on the surrounding islands, and eventually it was used to carry them back to Aotearoa, New Zealand.

In 1918, the SS Maheno returned to its work as a passenger ship until 1935. The ship was sold to a shipbreaker in Osaka, Japan, and was being towed from Sydney when heavy weather caused it to break away with a crew of eight men aboard. After a five-day search, the SS Maheno was found ashore off the coast of K'gari, Fraser Island. The cost of refloating the ship was considered too high, and so it remains on the shore to this day.

The wreckage was later used for target practice by soldiers during World War II, but it has also been used as a unique wedding location and remains a popular tourist destination.