?When at the Auckland Museum of Transport and Technology on Wednesday, with a group of maritime Museum volunteers, I came across a wooden propeller displayed in a case at the aeronautical section.
The text reads:-
Presented to the Master, Officers and Crew of the S.S. Hororata by The Commanding Officer and members of 67 Squadron RAAF in appreciation of the rescue of the crew of Anson L.T. 296 Pacific Ocean 20th November 1944
Barry has just pointed out that there is reference to the incident in Waters' book Ordeal by Sea 1939-1945. To quote the item:-
"During her sixth voyage the Hororata made her third rescue of life at sea. The ship was nearing the Australian coast on 19 November when she intercepted radio messages reporting that an aircraft of the Royal Australian Air Force had made a forced landing in Bass Strait and requesting shipping to watch for survivors. A reference to the chart indicated that the Hororata would pass close to the position given in the messages. A sharp look-out was kept and the following morning the Hororata sighted a rubber dinghy caqrrying three members of the crashed aircraft's crew. They were picked up and landed at Melbourne.
In commemoration of this propt rescue, an aircraft propellor was presented to the Hororata by the squadron to which the lost aircraft had belonged. The propellor, which was mounted on the wall of the ship's smoke-room, bears a brass plate carrying the inscription."
Some months ago, I was in the Aviation section of MoTaT (Auckland's Museum of Transport & Technology) and noticed an exhibition case with an aeroplane propeller embellished by a chromed brass plate saying that the propeller had been presented to the Master & crew of Hororata after picking up the crew of an Anson, who had ditched in the ocean off Mallacoota, on the 19th November 1944. Malacoota is near the NSW / Victoria border
MoTaT weren't able to throw any light on it but with the assistance from Barry Parsons, Roy Glencross and staff of the RAAF Museum, I was able to find that Hororata, on passage from NZ to Melbourne, had picked up the three crew members of an Anson (No LT296) of 67 Squadron. The plane had suffered an engine failure and, being unable to maintain height on the remaining engine, had ditched nearly 60 miles from Mallacoota. The crew, Flt Lt McDougall, W/O Jacques & Sgt Hildyard, boarded their rubber dinghy and awaited rescue. They were spotted by a Beaufort the next morning but poor visibility hindered a rescue. Hororata picked them up after they had been in the water for 31 hours but they were reported as being very little the worse for their experiences.
The Wing Commander's report tells us that the Squadron entertained 12 Officers and 24 crew, including Naval Ratings, from the S.S. Hororata to dinner at Laverton and all those who visited the Squadron expressed great pleasure at the amenities provided.
The RAAF obviously gave the the Hororata's ship's company a great party & were well thanked for the rescue.
On 6 June 1945 the Commanding Officer, Squadron Leader Hitchcock, and a party of officers and men called on the captain of the SS Hororata to present an inscribed aircraft propeller as a memento of the event.
How the propeller landed up at MoTaT is a bit of a mystery. I can only guess that when the ship was about to depart on her final voyage to the scrap yard at Kaoshiung, it was considered that the memento would be better off in MoTaT than sent to the knacker's yard.