 The column of smoke afterWaimarama exploded on 13 August 1942 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Waimarama |
| Namesake | Waimarama,New Zealand |
| Owner | Shaw, Savill & Albion Line |
| Port of registry | Southampton |
| Builder | Harland and Wolff,Belfast |
| Yard number | 1004 |
| Launched | 31 May 1938 |
| Completed | 6 October 1938 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | destroyed by air attack, 13 August 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | refrigeratedcargo liner |
| Tonnage | |
| Length | 516.9 ft (157.6 m) |
| Beam | 70.4 ft (21.5 m) |
| Draught | 27 ft 7 in (8.41 m) |
| Depth | 32.3 ft (9.8 m) |
| Decks | 3 |
| Installed power | 2,463NHP (12,000bhp) |
| Propulsion | 2 ×Diesel engines2 × screws |
| Speed | 18 knots (33 km/h) |
| Capacity |
|
| Sensors and processing systems | |
| Notes |
|
MVWaimarama was a UKrefrigeratedcargo liner. She was built inNorthern Ireland forShaw, Savill & Albion Line and launched in 1938. She carried perishable foods, particularly meat, fromNew Zealand to theUnited Kingdom.
Waimarama took part inOperation Pedestal in August 1942. A German aircraft bombed her before the convoy reachedMalta. The ship exploded and sank with the loss of 83 of her crew.
Shaw, Savill and Albion ran passenger and cargo services between New Zealand and the UK via thePanama Canal.[1][2] In the mid-1930sHarland and Wolff built for Shaw, Savill three of the swiftest cargo liners in the World: the refrigerated shipsWaiwera launched in 1934,Waipawa launched a month later andWairangi launched in 1935. They weremotor ships, similar toEmpire Star,New Zealand Star,Australia Star andImperial Star that Harland and Wolff built forBlue Star Line around the same time.[3]
Waiwera,Waipawa andWairangi had capacity for just over 522,000 cubic feet (14,781 m3) of refrigerated cargo,[4] berths for 12 passengers and adeadweight tonnage of more than 13,000. They had a long accommodation block amidships that included not only their passengers' and officers' cabins but also quarters for their crew.[5]
TheirBurmeister & Wainmarine diesel engines, which Harland and Wolff built under licence, gave them a speed of 17 knots (31 km/h). This made them as fast as many intermediateocean liners of the time, and put them among the swiftest cargo liners in the World.[5]
Waimarama was a development of this successful design. Harland and Wolff designed her to the same dimensions as her threesisters, but with more powerful engines.Waimarama was 516.9 ft (157.6 m) long, had a beam of 70.4 ft (21.5 m) and draught of 27 ft 7 in (8.41 m).[6] Her space for refrigerated cargo was 484,545 cubic feet (13,720.8 m3),[4] which was seven per cent less than her sisters, but that was because she also had a special section for chilled cargo.[5]
As built,Waimarama'stonnages were 11,092 GRT and 6,672 NRT.[6] In about 1940 they were revised to 12,843 GRT and 7,857 NRT.[7]
For her 12 passengersWaimarama had eight single and two double cabins, a dining saloon, a smoke-room and a lounge. Crew quarters were amidships in two-berth cabins.[5]
Harland and Wolff launchedWaimarama on 31 May 1938 and completed her on 6 October that year.[8] She had twoscrews, each driven by a six-cylindertwo-strokedouble-acting Burmeister and Wain diesel engine. Between them the two engines developed a total of 2,463NHP.[6] On hersea trials she achieved 20 knots (37 km/h),[5] which was exceptionally fast for a cargo liner. Her service speed was 18 knots (33 km/h).[9]
In the Second World WarWaimarama seems to have voyaged mostly unescorted. The only convoys in which she is recorded are Convoy WS 5B fromLiverpool toFreetown inSierra Leone in February and March 1941[10] and a few convoys in summer 1942.
On 5 June 1942Waimarama leftCristóbal at the Caribbean entrance of the Panama Canal in Convoy CS 5, which took her as far asKey West in Florida. There she joined Convoy KN 109 which took her up the east coast of the US as far asHampton Roads betweenNorth Carolina andVirginia. On 23 June she leftNew York and crossed the NorthAtlantic unescorted to Liverpool, where she arrived on 4 July.[11]
In the warWaimarama had been converted into adefensively equipped merchant ship (DEMS). For a cargo ship that typically meant one 4-inch or 4.7-inch naval gun on the stern, a small number of machine guns for anti-aircraft cover and, on larger cargo ships such asWaimarama, possibly a 3-inch anti-aircraft gun as well.
However, in July 1942 ships selected for Operation Pedestal had their armament increased by the addition of eitherOerlikon 20 mm cannons and/orBofors 40 mm guns. BothWaimarama and her sisterWairangi were selected for Operation Pedestal. In July 1942 they would therefore have been fitted with extra anti-aircraft guns.
On 2 August 1942, 14 Allied merchant ships includingWaimarama andWairangi left theFirth of Clyde in Scotland in the heavily escorted Convoy WS 12S.[12] On 10 August they reachedGibraltar where they became Convoy MW 12.[13] From 11 August onward German and Italian aircraft, surface vessels and submarines repeatedly attacked the convoy.
Before dawn in the small hours of 13 August, Italiantorpedo boats and GermanE-boats sank four merchant ships includingWairangi. Then at 0810 hrsLuftwaffe aircraft attacked the convoy[14] east ofCape Bon,Tunisia and south of theItalian island ofPantelleria. AJunkers Ju 88 aircraft dropped a stick of bombs, three or four of which hitWaimarama.Waimarama's cargo included ammunition and her deck cargo included containers ofaviation spirit.[9] Within minutes she "blew up with a roar and a sheet of flame with clouds of billowing smoke". Burning fuel also covered the surface of the sea.[14] 83 ofWaimarama'scomplement were killed, including herMaster.[9]
Waimarama's crew had no time to launch any of her lifeboats. But some of hercomplement were blown into the water, and despite burning oil on the surface some of them survived. They included a 17-year-old cadet,Frederick Treves, who was on his first voyage,[15] and an officer who could not swim. Treves kept the officer's head above water and then found a piece of wood which he gave to the officer to cling to, thereby saving his life.[16]
Burning débris showered the Blue Star linerMelbourne Star, which was following immediately astern ofWaimarama. The fire and smoke were so intense that many of the crew on the after part ofMelbourne Star assumed she too had been hit. Despite the fuel burning on the surface of the sea, 36 of them jumped overboard.[15]
The destroyerHMS Ledbury entered the field of burning débris and, at considerable risk to herself, rescued survivors of both ships from the water. Some sources state that only 22 men who jumped fromMelbourne Star[15] and two men who were blown overboard fromWaimarama survived,[17] while others[18] state thatLedbury succeeded in rescuing 18 survivors fromWaimarama and 24 fromMelbourne Star.
By 0930 hrsLedbury had completed rescuing survivors. She landed them on Malta on 15 August.[19]
TheShipwrecked Mariners Society granted each survivor fromWaimarama£76 10s relief.[20]
In February 1943Waimarama's Master,Robert Pearce,DSC, and his Third Wireless Officer, John Jackson, werementioned in dispatches "For gallantry, skill and resolution while an important Convoy was fought through to Malta in the face of relentless attacks by day and night from enemy aircraft, submarines and surface forces".[21] Captain Pearce's award was posthumous.
Cadet Treves was awarded theBEM[16] andLloyd's War Medal for Bravery at Sea[22] for saving the officer who could not swim.
Waimarama's wreck lies at36°25′N12°00′E / 36.417°N 12.000°E /36.417; 12.000,[8] upright in 9 metres (30 ft) of water.[9]
On 10 August 2012, the 70th anniversary of Convoy MW 12's departure from Gibraltar,MaltaPost issued a 26 centcommemorative stamp bearing a picture ofWaimarama under way at sea.[23] It is one of a set of 26 cent stamps issued that day, which between them commemorate every ship that took part in the convoy.
