Hoodoo on G & E Ships

Nimanoa Wrecked

WHILE on her way to Suva for a new tail shaft on January 21, the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony ship Nimanoa (291 tons) went aground on a reef off Funafuti and has become a total wreck. Crew and captain were taken to Suva by another WPHC ship, Tungaru, which escorted Nimanoa.

This is the second time in recent months that a G & E government ship has been wrecked. In September, MV Margaret went up on the reef at Nanumea and repeated attempts to get her off failed.

Nimanoa is the second G & E ship of this name. Nimanoa I, a handsome and handy motor-vessel was deliberately cast away in Tarawa lagoon in December,

1941, to keep her out of the hands of the invading Japs. Nimanoa II was formerly the Mootah; she was built in Hobart and sold to the WPHC in 1948. She left for the G & E Islands about March, 1945, after undergoing an elaborate refit in Sydney.