Missing Matafele Mystery

It has been one of the most enduring mysteries of the Royal Australian Navy that occurred in June 1944 when the HMAS Matafele never arrived at its Milne Bay destination.

Matafele, courtesy Royal Australian Navy News.

With 37 souls on board, the Matafele set sail from Townsville on June 18, 1944, after rectifying a bearing fracture in her starboard main engine. The course was for her to go via the Grafton Passage to Brumer Island in Papua New Guinea, through the China Strait then on to Milne Bay. With an estimated speed of 7.5 knots, carrying 215 tonnes of naval stores, including mail, her expected arrival in Milne Bay was June 22.

Built in 1938 in Hong Kong, the Matafele was commissioned while at sea in 1943, the first to ever be so, as a store carrier for the Australian Navy and was mainly used in New Guinea waters. It's claim to fame occurred in 1942 when it escaped Rabaul, Papua New Guinea just as the Japanese were landing from barges to attack the Australian garrison. It was thanks to a thick fog that obscured her from the enemy. She was the last ship to leave the port.

Lieut. CFR Gilbert (left) and Lt Commander Symonds.

On that fateful last trip in 1944, the Matafele was commanded by Lieutenant Commander G.Y. Symonds RN, NSW who had joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman in 1914. He received a mention in dispatches for his rescue work in Darwin at the time of the first Japanese air raids.

On June 24, 1944, two days after the expected arrival of the Matafele to Milne Bay, the Naval OIC New Guinea ordered the ship to break radio silence but there was no reply. A RAAF Beaufort bomber claimed to have seen the vessel on its way for the Papuan coast on the same day. A wide scale sea and air search was undertaken to no avail.

An oar with Matafele carved on it, a five metre dinghy and six metre boat were found damaged but not battle-scarred off Papua's south coast. The ship and its crew were never seen again.

Those on board were:

Lieut.-Commander G. F. Symonds, R.N. (emergency), of N.S.W.

Lieutenant C. F. R. GILBERT, R.A.N.V.R. (Vic).

Sub-Lieutenant J. J. MCNALLY, R.A.N.R. (N.S.W).

Sub-Lieutenant G. E. WATKINS, R.A.N.R. (Tas)

L./S. G. W. ARNOLD (Q).

A.B. G. C. BEECRAFT (.N.S.W).

Stoker R. W. BRACHER. (Vic).

Leading Supply Assistant J. L. BUCKLOW (N.S.W).

O./S. J. COLEMAN (W.A).

Stoker F. W. A. ELLERY (N.S.W).

E.R.A. W. H. HALYBURTON (N.S.W).

Stoker W. F. HICKLING (W.A).

Steward D. W. KLUVER (Q).

P.O. W. M. KUHLMANN (N.S.W).

A.B. K. McN. MORRISON (S.A).

Motor Mechanic R. E. NEWTOWN (N.S.W).

E.R.A. V. PEARSON (Tas).

Cook J. PRIDEAUX (S.A).

E.R.A. J. H. SANDS (N.S.W).

Stoker J. P. SEERY (S.A).

AB. L. SQUIRES (Q).

O.S. B. D. TAMPLIN (N.S.W).

A.B. L .J. TUNNEY (Q).

Telegraphist R. UPTON (Vic) including 13 PNG locals.

The crew of the Matafele that were never seen again.

References

• 'Matafele a mystery', Royal Australian Navy News, Thursday 28 June, 2007, Page 6

• ' HMAS Matafele Lost', The Kalgoorlie Miner, Wednesday 17 Jan 1945, Page 4

• 'Matafele Escaped from Rabaul', The News, Tuesday 16 January, 1945, Page 3

• 'Lost with all hands', Daily Mercury, Tuesday, 16 January, 1945, Page 1

• 'HMAS Matafele: Store Carrier Lost', The West Australian, Wednesday, 17 January 1945

• 'Mystery of the Matafele', Royal Australian Navy News, Thursday, 18 June 2015, Page 19