SS Mauna Loa SS " Mauna Loa was a steam - powered cargo ship of Matson Navigation Company that was sunk in the bombing of Darwin in February 1942 . She was christened SS " West Conob in 1919 and renamed SS " Golden Eagle " in 1928 . At the time of her completion in 1919 , the ship was inspected by the United States Navy for possible use as USS " West Conob " ( ID - 4033 ) but was neither taken into the Navy nor ever commissioned . " West Conob " was built in 1919 for the , part of the " West " series of ships — steel - hulled cargo ships built on the West Coast of the United States for the World War I war effort — and was the 14th ship built at Los Angeles Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company in San Pedro , California . She initially sailed for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company and circumnavigated the globe twice by 1921 . She began sailing to South America for Swayne & Hoyt Lines in 1925 , and then , to Australia and New Zealand . When Swayne & Hoyt ' s operation was taken over by the Oceanic and Oriental Navigation Company a few years later , she sailed under the name " Golden Eagle " until 1934 , when she was taken over by the Matson Navigation Company for service between Hawaii and the U . S . mainland and renamed " Mauna Loa " , after the large shield volcano on the Island of Hawaii . 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 . Design and construction . The " West " ships were cargo ship s of similar size and design built by several shipyards on the West Coast of the United States for the for emergency use during World War I . Some 40 " West " ships were built by Los Angeles Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company of Los Angeles , all given names that began with the word " West " . " West Conob " ( Los Angeles Shipbuilding yard number 14 ) was completed in May 1919 . " West Conob " was , and was long ( between perpendiculars ) and abeam . She had a steel hull and a deadweight tonnage of . Sources do not give " West Conob " s other hull characteristics , but , a sister ship also built at Los Angeles Shipbuilding had a displacement of 12 , 225 t with a mean draft of , and a hold deep . " West Conob " s power plant consisted of a single triple - expansion reciprocating steam engine with cylinders of 28½ , 47 , and 78 inches ( 72 , 120 , and 200 cm ) with a stroke . She was outfitted with three Foster water - tube boilers , each with a heating area of and containing 52 and 827 tubes . Her boilers were heated by mechanical oil burners fed by two pumps , each 6 by 4 by 6 inches ( 15 × 10 × 15 cm ) with a capacity of per minute . Fully loaded , the ship could hold of fuel oil . " West Conob " s single screw propeller was in diameter with a pitch and a developed area of . The ship was designed to travel at , and averaged during her first voyage in June 1919 . Career . After completion , " West Conob " was inspected by the 12th Naval District of the United States Navy for possible naval service and was assigned the identification number of 4033 . Had she been commissioned , she would have been known as USS " West Conob " ( ID - 4033 ) , but the Navy neither took over the ship nor commissioned her . Little information on the first years of " West Conob " s career is found in sources . But it is known that she was operated by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company on $ 3 routes . The ship departed Los Angeles on her maiden voyage to Hong Kong , making her way to San Francisco . " West Conob " departed from there on 13 June 1919 for Honolulu , where she arrived eight days later . After refueling at Honolulu , she headed to Hong Kong , and from there , retraced her route to return to San Francisco . Details of later voyages are not available , but by mid - April 1921 , " West Conob " had completed two circumnavigations without needing to stop for repairs . At that time , the allocated " West Conob " for service to Genoa . In December 1925 , " West Conob " was allocated to Swayne & Hoyt Lines for service to the east coast of South America . By mid - 1926 , " West Conob " was sailing for Swayne & Hoyt ' s American - Australian - Orient Line when she was reported in the " Los Angeles Times " as sailing to New Zealand with of wallboard . In October 1927 , the " Los Angeles Times " reported on the impending sale of " West Conob " and 18 other Swayne & Holt ships to a San Francisco financier . The ship later became a part of the fleet of the Oceanic and Oriental Navigation Company , a joint venture between Oceanic - Matson , a subsidiary of Matson Navigation Company , and the American - Hawaiian Steamship Company , established to take over operation of transpacific routes that had been managed for the by Swayne & Holt Lines . Some time after March 1928 , the ship was renamed " Golden Eagle " , the name under which she operated for the next six years . " Golden Eagle " was sailing for Oceanic and Oriental from Los Angeles to Australia in March 1930 , when the " Los Angeles Times " reported that she had sailed with of case oil and of general merchandise . In March 1934 , Matson began a new " sugar , molasses and pineapple service " from Hawaii to San Francisco , Los Angeles , and either Philadelphia or New York , featuring " Golden Eagle " and three other cargo ships . In May , after returning from New York on her first voyage in the new service , " Golden Eagle " entered drydock at Los Angeles for general repairs and repainting . She emerged in Matson livery and with the new name of " Mauna Loa " . She sailed on her maiden voyage under her new name to Honolulu with of general cargo in late May . " Mauna Loa " continued on the Hawaii – California – Philadelphia / New York service , occasionally making extra voyages from Los Angeles to Honolulu when dictated by cargo bookings . One such extra voyage occurred in February 1936 when she carried almost a full load of building materials for family dwellings in Hawaii . In August 1936 , " Mauna Loa " diverted to respond to a distress call issued by the windjammer " Pacific Queen " some southwest of Los Angeles . " Pacific Queen " had sailed from San Diego in July with a crew of 32 — most of whom were Sea Scouts — and had been missing for two weeks . " Mauna Loa " s crew provided required supplies for the sailing vessel and her radioed messages prompted the United States Coast Guard to recall all of its vessels actively searching for " Pacific Queen " . On 18 November 1941 , the War Department chartered " Mauna Loa " and seven other ships to carry supplies to the Philippines . Even though details of the charters were deemed confidential , the names of all eight ships were published in the " Los Angeles Times " two days later . World War II . Less than three weeks after " Mauna Loa " s charter , the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor propelled the United States into World War II . " Mauna Loa " s movements over the next three months are unknown , but by mid - February 1942 , she had made her way to Darwin , Northern Territory , Australia . Japanese forces — advancing down the Malay Barrier , the notional Allied line of defense that ran down the Malayan Peninsula through Singapore and the southernmost islands of the Dutch East Indies — had reached the island of Timor by mid February . In order to prevent the fall of that island to the Japanese , which would give them a base within of Darwin , the Allies assembled a joint American - Australian force to reinforce the Australian Sparrow Force and Royal Dutch East Indies Army forces defending Timor . The American cruiser and destroyer , and the Australian sloops and , led " Mauna Loa " and three other civilian ships out of Darwin Harbour at about 03 : 00 on 15 February heading for Koepang with relief intended for Timor . " Mauna Loa " , loaded with 500 men , and United States Army transport ship carried an Australian infantry battalion and an antitank unit between them . The British refrigerated cargo ship and the American cargo ship carried the 148th Field Artillery Regiment of the Idaho National Guard between them . The ships were spotted by a Japanese Kawanishi H6K " Mavis " four - engined flying boat that tailed the convoy at . When Captain Albert H . Rooks of " Houston " requested air cover for the convoy , a lone Curtiss P - 40 responded and engaged the Mavis , with each plane managing to shoot down the other . At around 09 : 00 the next day , another Mavis began trailing the convoy and at 11 : 00 , 36 land - based Mitsubishi Ki - 21 " Sally " twin - engine bombers and ten seaplane s attacked in two waves . " Houston " , the primary target of the bombers , unleashed all of her available antiaircraft fire with neither bombs nor " Houston " s fire being effective . In the second wave , from the southwest and after the ships had scattered , " Houston " shot down seven of forty - four planes and repelled the attacking aircraft . " Houston " s 900 rounds fired in the 45 - minute attack resembled a " sheet of flame " , according to witnesses . The only casualties during the attack were from one near miss on " Mauna Loa " ; 1 crewman and 1 passenger were killed and 18 men were wounded in the attack . The convoy was ordered back to Darwin when word that Koepang had fallen to the Japanese was received ; she arrived back in Darwin on 18 February . Sinking . On 19 February 1942 , the Japanese carrier striking force , consisting of aircraft carriers " Akagi " , " Kaga " , " Hiryu " , and " Soryu " under the command of Admiral Chuichi Nagumo , launched 189 planes to attack Darwin . The carrier planes rendezvoused with 54 land - based bombers from Kendari and Ambon . At the time of the raid the " Mauna Loa " and " Meigs " had unloaded troops and moved to anchorages with the force ' s equipment and ammunition aboard with and unloading ammunition at the docks that were the first target of high altitude bombers . Both ships at the dock were hit with " Neptuna " exploding . After a second wave of bombers , concentrating on the airport , came waves of dive bombers that for two hours concentrated on ships in the harbor . During the attack , " Mauna Loa " quickly sank after she was hit by two bombs that landed in an open hatch . None of her 37 - man crew or 7 passengers was injured . Along with " Mauna Loa " , two other American ships , destroyer " Peary " and Army transport " Meigs " , were sunk . In addition to the many other ships that were damaged , five Commonwealth ships were sunk , including two Australian passenger ships in use as troopships , " Neptuna " and " Zealandia " . The total death toll for the attack was around 250 ; of the total , 157 died on ships . What remains of " Mauna Loa " lies in Darwin Harbour at position at a depth of , and is a dive site . Military trucks , Bren Gun Carriers , a Harley - Davidson motorcycle , and many rounds of . 303 - and . 50 - caliber ammunition are among the pieces of " Mauna Loa " s cargo that still lie strewn about the wreck . External links .