Matua
1936
(Albatros AL-53)
- Type: Passenger
- Displacement: 4,192 grt / 3,112 nwt
- Dimensions: 370-6 x 50-6 x 21-6 ft.
- Machinery: Diesel, twin screws, 1,160 nhp = 15 knots
- Passengers: 168 (48 cabin class, 120 deck)
- Crew:
- Builder: R & W Hawthorn, Leslie & Co Ltd, Hebburn, England, 1936
- Service: Built for Union Steamship Company of New Zealand (British flag). Monthly Auckland service to Rarotonga, Cook Islands, and then one to Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga. Known affectionately as the 'Banana Boat'. Continued service 1939-45 during the war, carrying troops and supplies on most voyages. In 1946 she evacuated 1,258 people from Niuafo'ou Island, Tonga, which was undergoing volcanic eruptions. In Mar 1963 she rode out a severe hurricane near Tofua with considerable damage. Sold 1968 to E. K. Litojua, Manila, and renamed Sultan K.L.. Driven ashore at Manila by typhoon in 1969; salved but beyond repair, she was broken up at Kaohsiung in 1970.
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