SS Mauna Loa

SS Mauna Loa.
SS Mauna Loa was a steam-powered cargo ship of the Matson Navigation Company that was sunk in the Bombing of Darwin in February 1942. Built in 1919 for the United States Shipping Board, she was christened West Conob and renamed Golden Eagle in 1928, sailing for a variety of owners. In 1934, she was taken over by the Matson Navigation Company for service between Hawaii and the U.S. mainland and renamed Mauna Loa. Shortly before the United States' entry into World War II, Mauna Loa was chartered by the United States Department of War to carry supplies to the Philippines. The ship was part of an aborted attempt to reinforce Allied forces under attack by the Japanese on Timor in mid-February 1942. After the return of her convoy to Darwin, Northern Territory, Mauna Loa was one of eight ships sunk in Darwin Harbour in the first Japanese bombing attack on the Australian mainland on 19 February. The remains of her wreck and her cargo are a dive site in the harbor.