The ship was named after
Maheno, a township in Otago, In accordance with Article 5 of the
1899 Hague Convention she was repainted white overall, with a broad green stripe along her sides, and large red crosses on the sides and funnels.
HMNZHS Maheno arrived at
Moudros, the naval base of the
Gallipoli Campaign, on 25 August 1915, and the next day was off
ANZAC Cove, loading casualties from the
Battle of Hill 60. Over the next three months, she carried casualties from Gallipoli to Malta. They were cared for by members of the
New Zealand Army Nursing Service including
Evelyn Brooke.
Maheno arrived back at New Zealand on 1 January 1916 to refit, then returned to Egypt in February to collect patients for transport back to New Zealand. She then sailed to the UK, arriving at Southampton on 3 July 1916, just after the start the
Battle of the Somme. Until October 1916 she operated in the
English Channel, returning large numbers of wounded and sick troops from the
Western Front to England.
Maheno sailed back to New Zealand in December 1916, and then made six more voyages between New Zealand and the
British Isles, bringing back patients. At the war's end in November 1918,
Maheno was released from military service and returned to her business owner to resume her commercial life.
Running aground on K'gari (Fraser Island) At the end of its commercial life, on 3 July 1935
Maheno left Sydney under tow by the 1,758-ton ship
Oonah, a former
Tasmanian Steamers Pty. Ltd. Bass Strait ferry, built in 1888, which along with the
Maheno had been sold to the shipbreaker's yard
Miyachi K.K.K. in
Osaka, Japan. The ships were linked by a wire rope.
Maheno was subsequently found on 10 July by an aircraft piloted by
Keith Virtue, beached off the coast of
K'gari (Fraser Island). The crew had set up camp onshore, waiting for the
Oonah to arrive, which it did on 12 July. In January 1936 the wreck was also the location of the marriage of Dudley Weatherley and Beatrice McLean (instead of at Townsville), at the invitation of Captain Takaka, to notes from the ship's organ. The stranded ship was also used as a venue for an experiment in
'rocket mail' in August 1935. The ship was subsequently stripped of its fittings, but attempts to refloat her failed. The wreck was subsequently offered for sale, but no buyers could be found for it. ==Wreck==