TSMV Manunda was an Australian registered and crewed passenger ship which was converted to a hospital ship in 1940. During the war Manunda saw service in both the Middle East and Pacific Campaigns, specifically New Guinea. She resumed her passenger duties after the war, before being sold to a Japanese company and finally broken up in 1957. Design and construction In 1927 the Adelaide Steamship Company in Australia ordered a new liner to provide full-time Australian coastal passenger services, which had previously only been offered by the company on a limited scale. The Twin Screw Motor Vessel Manunda was built by William Beardmore and Company at Dalmuir in Scotland. The vessel was in length, with a beam of . Diesel motors provided power to the two propeller shafts, with a top speed of . Passenger capacity was 176 first class and 136 second class. The ship was launched on 27 November 1928, and completed on 16 April 1929. It was a company policy for all its motor vessels to have a name starting with "M" and the ship was named after an Aboriginal word meaning "place near water". She was the largest ship operated by the Adelaide Steamship Company at the time, and as a result of her success the company commissioned a larger, faster sister ship, , which was completed in 1935. Operational history Early career She arrived in Australia in June 1929 to begin her duties on the Australian coastal trade, running passengers and cargo between Sydney, Fremantle, Melbourne and Cairns. In late 1929, Manunda rammed Birkenhead Wharf in Adelaide. World War II The declaration of war saw Manunda fitted out as DEMS ship (Defensively Equipped Merchant Ship), under the control of the Australian Shipping Control Board. During the process of converting it into a hospital ship, the No. 1 Hold was deemed to be dangerous and never rectified. One death was recorded (that of Second Officer Rupert Mafeking Blunt) and several officers were injured due to the complications with the design. She was converted into a hospital ship at Sydney in compliance with the Geneva Convention Regulations and was taken over by the authorities on 25 May 1940, and entered service as AHS Manunda on 22 July 1940, under Captain James Garden, previously the captain of the Adelaide Steamship Company Manoora and Commodore of the Adelaide Steamship Fleet. The general hospital based on board was commanded by