HMHS Marama
From Our Contribution
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | HMHS Marama |
| Owner | Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand Ltd., Dunedin |
| Builder | Caird & Co, Greenock |
| Yard number | 313 |
| Launched | 27 Jun 1907 |
| Completed | November 1907 |
| In service | November 1907 |
| Out of service | 1937 |
| Fate | scrapped 1938 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Passenger / cargo ship |
| Tonnage | 6,437 tons |
| Length | 420 ft 3 in (128.09m) |
| Beam | 53 ft 2 in (16.20m) |
| Depth | 31 ft 2in (9.50m) |
| Propulsion | twin screw |
| Speed | 17 knots (31.48 km/h) |
| Capacity | 140 crew & 488 passengers |
Contents
Remarks
Owned by the Union Company of New Zealand, she was initially built for the Trans Tasman service, but was transferred to the Vancouver and San Francisco mail routes. SS Marama was able to accommodate a total of 488 passengers being made up of: 270 Saloon Class; 120 Second Class and 98 cabin passengers.
During WW1 she was converted to become a hospital ship in 1915 (New Zealand Hospital Ship No. 2). Medical Staff strength was 12 Medical Officers, 24 Nurses and 62 Others. She was equipped to look after 21 injured Officers, 72 enlisted men in cots and 507 in berths.
After war service she was refitted (1920) for the trans-Pacific services to San Francisco and Vancouver. In 1925 she was converted to burn oil, and employed on the Tasman run. She was sold to Shanghai shipbreakers (Lunghua Dock & Engineering Works, Shanghai) in 1937, then resold to Kobe shipbreakers where she was broken up at their Osaka shipyard in 1938.