HMAS Koolonga
| Company type | Cargo vessel / Naval collier and supply ship |
|---|---|
| Industry | Shipping / Naval logistics |
| Founded | 1914 |
| Founder | Sunderland Shipbuilding Company |
| Fate | Sunk twice; final sinking in November 1944 by US Navy air attack |
| Headquarters | England (built), Australia (initial owner), Philippines (later owner) |
| Products | Cargo transport, naval supply |
HMAS Koolonga was a cargo vessel with a gross register tonnage of 4,260, constructed in 1914 by Sunderland Shipbuilding Company in England. Initially owned by McIlwraith, McEacharn Line Pty Ltd of Melbourne, she was requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy on 6 August 1914 to serve as a collier and supply ship. During her naval tenure, she participated in the occupation of German New Guinea before being returned to her commercial owners towards the end of 1915. In 1937, ownership transferred to Madrigal & Company in the Philippines, where she was renamed Paz. The ship met her first sinking in Manila Bay in December 1941 amid Second World War combat operations. Subsequently salvaged by the Imperial Japanese, she was renamed Hatsu Maru and ultimately destroyed by United States Navy air attacks in November 1944.
RAN Service
Under the designation HMAS Koolonga, the ship provided logistical support to the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force during operations in German New Guinea until May 1915. Her service earned her the battle honour Rabaul 1914.
Australian coastal service
Following her naval deployment, she resumed commercial duties transporting cargo between Whyalla, South Australia and Newcastle, New South Wales. In October 1917, after sale through Scott Fell & Company to BHP Shipping, she was rechristened Iron Monarch. By 1920, Interstate Steamships Ltd had assumed ownership. Her primary function involved moving iron ore to steel production facilities at Port Kembla and delivering coal to South Australia for use by the Commonwealth Railways. Throughout her service, she encountered multiple groundings: at Port Pirie in April 1921 (from which she was promptly refloated), Curlew Island in February 1930, Port Kembla, and Cape Three Point in October 1937. A notable incident occurred in November 1934 when she sustained considerable damage after colliding with Newcastle's Stockton breakwater, resulting in repair costs of £8,985 at Cockatoo Island Dockyard.
In 1937, Iron Monarch was involved in an accident that caused the sinking of a 28-foot cutter named Sylvia within Port Lincoln harbour. Later that year, she was sold to Madrigal & Company and received the new name Paz.
Fate
During World War II, Japanese aircraft bombed and sank her on 26 December 1941 in Manila Bay. The Imperial Japanese forces later raised and salvaged the wreck, repurposing it as an Imperial Japanese Army transport vessel under the name Hatsu Maru. On 13 November 1944, she was sunk once more following an aerial assault by United States Navy carrier-based planes in Manila Bay, Philippines.