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| RAN Cargo 300 Tons 113' x 25  Martin Clemens c1939  RAN c1942 |
Ship History Built in Hong Kong during 1938 as 300 ton motor vessel. Purchased by Burns Philp & Company Ltd. and named MV Mamutu and used as an inter island trader in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Wartime History During the war, impressed into service in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) under the command of Captain J. McEachern. During 1941 operated as a stores issuing ship. During 1942 used to transport cargo and passengers between northern Australia and the Territory of Papua. On August 6, 1942 departs Port Moresby under the command of Captain J. McEachern bound for Daru with a crew of 32 transporting 82 passengers (included 10 Europeans and 28 children) including 70 "half castes" from Port Moresby and Daru that were being evacuated from the area. Sinking History On August 7, 1942 at 10:34am spotted by Japanese submarine RO-33 and chased. By 11:00am, halfway across the Gulf of Papua at roughly 9° 11' S, 144° 12'E the submarine was spotted and the ship's wireless operator Richard J. Furbank sent a Morse code message to Port Moresby to advise then of the enemy submarie. As RO-33 closed at about 19 knots it surfaced and opened fire with her 80mm deck gun. The first shot hit the radio room and killed Furbank. The second shot hit the bridge killing Captain J. McEachern and others hit the hull, killing and wounding passengers and the ship began sinking. Wartime accounts claim RO-33 Captain Kuriyama ordered his crew to machine gun the survivors. Yet, the account of the sole survivor and Japanese records dispute, revealing the submarine used only the deck gun. Search The same day, a B-25 piloted by 1st Lt. Charles Dolan from 3rd BG, 13th BS searched for "two Japanese submarines" reported in the Gulf of Papua without any sightings. At 1:40pm, MV Oliver Tomkins under the command of Lt. A. L. Ethell departs Daru to search for survivors of the sinking off Bramble Bay, but encountered rough seas and bad weather over 36 hours and covered roughly 250 miles. Meanwhile, MV Reliance from Murray Island searched for survivors, but found nothing. A B-17 Flying Fortress located survivors and dropped life rafts to them. On August 8, 1942 in the morning S23 "Calypso" A18-11 attempted to rescue survivors but was damaged landing in heavy seas and sank, killing one of the crew. Fates of the Crew Only 28 survived the sinking. One survivor was Bill Griffin. Twenty-seven survived by drifting to the coast of New Guinea on the life rafts and were rescued. One was rescued by a RAAF aircraft. Memorials The Merchant Navy crew members are commemorated at Bomana War Cemetery on the Port Moresby Memorial. Furbank on panel 10. References ANGAU Diary "Search for Survivors from MV Mamutu" pages 97 - 98 AWM "In the matter of the loss of the M.V. "Mamutu" Before G.C. O'Donnell Lieut. Assistant District Officer" Wrecks & Reefs (1994) pages 199-207 Oz @ War - Mamutu sunk by Japanese submarine RO-33 north of Murray Island 7 August 1942 Combined Fleet: HIJMS Submarine RO-33: Tabular Record of Movement (via Wayback) "Authors' Notes: Author and historian Kimata Jiro dismisses any notion about the gunning of the survivors as wartime propaganda. Once the MAMUTU was seen to go down, the sub immediately left the area because an SOS had been sent and planes could arrive at any minute." Passengers In History - Mamutu CWCG - Richard Joseph Furbank FindAGrave - Radio Officer Richard Joseph Furbank (Port Moresby Memorial) FindAGrave - Richard Joseph Furbank (AWM Commemorative Roll) Merchant Ships of Australia in World War II - Burns, Philp & Company Limited "Mamutu fell victim to enemy action. Mamutu (b.1938 gt.300 svce.1938-1942) was sunk by submarine RO33 in the Torres Strait, with twenty-three crew and 119 passengers killed, one person surviving." Harvest of the Grim Reapers Volume I (2021) pages 325 (search for RO-33), 521 (index RO-33) Thanks to Edward Rogers for additional research and analysis Contribute
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