SS Talune
Encyclopedia
Three vessels have been named Talune. This article refers to the first SS Talune, built in 1890 and scuttled in 1925.
A second SS Talune was built in 1930 for the Union Steamship company of New Zealand, and sold in 1959 to Transporte de Minerales, Panama, who renamed it the ‘Amos’. A 30 foot motor launch named Talune was built in Hobart, Tasmania in 1914 and destroyed by fire at her moorings at Maria Island, Tasmania on 6 July 1929..
and South Seas trades in the last decade of the 19th century and the first two decades of the 20th. It was a typical ship of its time and type in every way. Its melancholy claim to fame is that it was the ship that brought the deadly 1918 Spanish flu
pandemic
from New Zealand
to Samoa
and other Pacific islands.
SS (steamship) Talune was built by Ramage & Ferguson, of Leith, Scotland, for the Tasmanian Steam Navigation Company of Hobart
, Tasmania
, entering service with the company in 1890. It was of 2,087 tons, about 230 feet long, coal fired, and powered by a triple-expansion steam engine. It had passenger accommodation for up to 175 people and a crew of around 56.
Initially the Talune was employed on the Hobart-Sydney run for its parent company.
In 1891 the ship was taken over by the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand
when it absorbed the Tasmanian company and its assets. The Talune worked thereafter between New Zealand
and Australia
, and later between New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
from Wellington
to Bluff
, and then on to Melbourne
as part of a world tour.
His opinion of the ship is not recorded. New Zealand poll tax
records show that in May 1896 it brought one Ah Lun, a 34-year old Cantonese man to Wellington
from Sydney
. In June 1897 it carried Carl Hertz
from Bluff to Hobart. Hertz was an American ‘Illusionist and Prestigidator’ who was the most successful early exhibitor to show motion pictures in New Zealand. In 1901 the Talune was the setting for a lethal poisoning reported in the Otago Witness in April of that year.
In its early years the Talune was involved in two recorded salvage operations. In 1898 it rendered assistance to the SS Ruapehu, stranded on Farewell Spit
. In 1899 the Talune fell in with the 5,500 ton ‘Perthshire’, which had gone missing on a voyage from Sydney
to Wellington. For eight weeks the Perthshire had been drifting helplessly without power in the Tasman
sea with a broken tailshaft. The Talune towed the larger ship back to Sydney.
. The Talune was carrying general cargo and 15 passengers, so by this time may have already reverted to civilian service after serving as a military transport. Four hundred pounds worth of damage was done to plates and frames. The Court of Enquiry found the Talune struck an uncharted pinnacle rock, and there is no record of the Master (J. Morrison) being censured.
, Samoa, Tonga
, Nauru
, and then Fiji again before returning to Auckland.
At that time the Western Samoan islands were administered by New Zealand, which had seized them from Germany at the start of the First World War in 1914. The United States of America controlled the Eastern islands.
At the time of the Talune’s departure from Auckland, pandemic influenza was spreading rapidly in New Zealand, resulting in many fatalities. Before leaving Auckland two crewmen had reported sick and were sent ashore, but by the time Talune reached Suva
in Fiji on the 4th of November several more crewmen had influenza.
As none of the local passengers were stricken, they were allowed ashore and the cargo unloaded while the ship remained in quarantine alongside the wharf, the Port Health officer having heard reports of the severe epidemic in New Zealand. As was the custom of the time, about 90 Fijian labourers were taken on board to work the cargo as the ship proceeded on its planned voyage. By the time the Talune reached Apia in Samoa on the 7th of November most of the Fijian labourers were ill (Rice, p200).
The ship’s quarantine at Suva was apparently not mentioned on arrival in Apia (Cliff et al., p137) and the acting Port Health officer at Apia was not aware of the epidemic in Auckland (Rice, p200). After what seems to have been a somewhat cursory examination the ship was granted pratique
and passengers allowed to disembark. “[The] Talune's captain told the medical officer, Doctor Atkinson, that nothing was serious, but that "'One old reverend told me he had been sick back in Auckland, but he seems fine now. Two Samoan kids, Tau and Faleolo, had headaches yesterday but are up and around again today.'" The doctor "questioned the pastor and two boys as they went by”, but no one complained of being ill. Two hours later the yellow flag was lowered. The Talune had a clean bill of health
."
By the 31st December at least 7,542 Samoan people had died from the virulent influenza, and deaths from influenza continued into 1919. A commission of enquiry calculated a final death toll of about 8,500, about 22% of the whole population of Western Samoa (Rice, p201). While the impact of the pandemic was undoubtedly amplified by the Samoan cultural response to illness, which requires the fono (family) to gather around a sick person, there is also no doubt that the New Zealand administrative response to the pandemic was at best inept. Much more could have been done to reduce the impact on the population, such as prohibiting travel within and between islands.
The original decision to allow the Talune’s passengers to land, along with other events during New Zealand’s administration of Samoa, was the subject of an apology from the New Zealand Government delivered at a State luncheon in Apia in June 2002.
The impact on Western Samoa was particularly poignant in view of the success of the American authorities in preventing pandemic influenza from gaining a foothold in islands under their administration, although these were only about 60 km from the New Zealand administered islands.
Without orders from his government, but based on what he learned from a radio news service, the governor of American Samoa, Navy Commander John M. Poyer, instituted a rigorous quarantine policy. When he heard of the outbreak on Western Samoa, he banned travel to or from the neighbouring islands. Poyer persuaded the island's natives to mount a shore patrol to prevent illegal landings. People who disembarked from ships sailing from the American mainland were kept under house arrest for a specified period, or examined daily. Aspects of the quarantine continued into mid-1920, a year after Poyer departed to the sound of a 17-gun salute. There were no influenza deaths on American Samoa.
The Talune went on from Apia to Tonga
(calling at Neiafu
, Vava’u, Ha’Apai), and to Nuku’Alofa in Tongatapu
, where it arrived on 12 November 1918. Within a few days of the Talune’s arrival the disease had spread with heavy loss of life; estimates vary between 1,800 and 2,000 died, or about 8% to 10% of the Tongan population. After Tongatapu the Talune sailed for Nauru
, where once again the first cases of influenza appeared ashore within a few days of her departure.
Few if any voyages in history, whether in peace or war, have resulted in so many deaths in such a short time. The impact of the Talune’s deadly island voyage is still remembered today, and has influenced influenza pandemic planning into the 21st century.
In 1925 the ship was hulked
, and in November of that year was filled with rocks and scuttled to form the foundation of a breakwater at Waikokopu
, a small port in northern Hawke Bay
, on the east coast of the North Island
of New Zealand.
have been reduced to rubble by southerly swells. The foundations of the breakwater where the last vestiges of the Talune lie can be seen on Google Earth
at 39°04′23.74"S 177°49′44.25"E.
A second SS Talune was built in 1930 for the Union Steamship company of New Zealand, and sold in 1959 to Transporte de Minerales, Panama, who renamed it the ‘Amos’. A 30 foot motor launch named Talune was built in Hobart, Tasmania in 1914 and destroyed by fire at her moorings at Maria Island, Tasmania on 6 July 1929..
The first SS Talune
The first SS Talune was a passenger and freight steamship employed in the Tasman SeaTasman Sea
The Tasman Sea is the large body of water between Australia and New Zealand, approximately across. It extends 2,800 km from north to south. It is a south-western segment of the South Pacific Ocean. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, the first recorded European...
and South Seas trades in the last decade of the 19th century and the first two decades of the 20th. It was a typical ship of its time and type in every way. Its melancholy claim to fame is that it was the ship that brought the deadly 1918 Spanish flu
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
pandemic
Pandemic
A pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that is spreading through human populations across a large region; for instance multiple continents, or even worldwide. A widespread endemic disease that is stable in terms of how many people are getting sick from it is not a pandemic...
from New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
to Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
and other Pacific islands.
SS (steamship) Talune was built by Ramage & Ferguson, of Leith, Scotland, for the Tasmanian Steam Navigation Company of Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
, Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
, entering service with the company in 1890. It was of 2,087 tons, about 230 feet long, coal fired, and powered by a triple-expansion steam engine. It had passenger accommodation for up to 175 people and a crew of around 56.
Initially the Talune was employed on the Hobart-Sydney run for its parent company.
In 1891 the ship was taken over by the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand
Union Company
The Union Company, Union Steam Ship Company , or Union Line was started in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1875, when it was floated by James Mills, who had been clerk to Johnny Jones and his Harbour Steam Company....
when it absorbed the Tasmanian company and its assets. The Talune worked thereafter between New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and later between New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
Early service
No complete record of the Talune’s many voyages has been found, but the ship appears in a number of records from the time. In November 1891 the Talune took the British poet and writer Rudyard KiplingRudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
from Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
to Bluff
Bluff, New Zealand
Bluff is a town and seaport in the Southland region, on the southern coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the southern-most town in New Zealand and, despite Slope Point being further to the south, is colloquially used to refer to the southern extremity of the country...
, and then on to Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
as part of a world tour.
His opinion of the ship is not recorded. New Zealand poll tax
New Zealand head tax
New Zealand imposed a poll tax on Chinese immigrants during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The poll tax was effectively lifted in the 1930s following the invasion of China by Japan, and was finally repealed in 1944...
records show that in May 1896 it brought one Ah Lun, a 34-year old Cantonese man to Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
from Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. In June 1897 it carried Carl Hertz
Carl Hertz
Carl Hertz was born Louis or Leib Morgenstein in San Francisco.After becoming proficient in the art of magic, he toured America, Europe and Australia, which he had first visited in 1892...
from Bluff to Hobart. Hertz was an American ‘Illusionist and Prestigidator’ who was the most successful early exhibitor to show motion pictures in New Zealand. In 1901 the Talune was the setting for a lethal poisoning reported in the Otago Witness in April of that year.
In its early years the Talune was involved in two recorded salvage operations. In 1898 it rendered assistance to the SS Ruapehu, stranded on Farewell Spit
Farewell Spit
Farewell Spit is a narrow sand spit situated at , at the northern end of the South Island of New Zealand. Known to the Māori as Tuhuroa, it runs eastwards from Cape Farewell, the island's northernmost point...
. In 1899 the Talune fell in with the 5,500 ton ‘Perthshire’, which had gone missing on a voyage from Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
to Wellington. For eight weeks the Perthshire had been drifting helplessly without power in the Tasman
Tasman
Tasman may refer to:* Tasman , a light rail station in California, USA* Tasman , a layout engine developed by Microsoft* Tasman Region, a region and a district of New Zealand* Mount Tasman, a mountain in New Zealand...
sea with a broken tailshaft. The Talune towed the larger ship back to Sydney.
First World War service
The Talune saw service in the First World War as His Majesty’s New Zealand Transport 16 (HMNZT 16) transporting at least one contingent of troops to Western Samoa. At some time after 1916 the Talune reverted to civilian service and resumed its ordinary voyages.Stranding
Talune's only known stranding occurred on the 12th of March 1917, in the Egeria Channel, off NukualofaNukuʻalofa
Nukualofa is the capital of the Kingdom of Tonga. It is located on the north coast of the island of Tongatapu, in the southern most island group of Tonga.-Mythological origins:...
. The Talune was carrying general cargo and 15 passengers, so by this time may have already reverted to civilian service after serving as a military transport. Four hundred pounds worth of damage was done to plates and frames. The Court of Enquiry found the Talune struck an uncharted pinnacle rock, and there is no record of the Master (J. Morrison) being censured.
Influenza in the Pacific
On November 7, 1918 the Talune arrived at Apia in Western Samoa, on one of its regular Pacific voyages from Auckland, New Zealand, successively calling at ports in FijiFiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, Samoa, Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
, Nauru
Nauru
Nauru , officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country in Micronesia in the South Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Kiribati, to the east. Nauru is the world's smallest republic, covering just...
, and then Fiji again before returning to Auckland.
At that time the Western Samoan islands were administered by New Zealand, which had seized them from Germany at the start of the First World War in 1914. The United States of America controlled the Eastern islands.
At the time of the Talune’s departure from Auckland, pandemic influenza was spreading rapidly in New Zealand, resulting in many fatalities. Before leaving Auckland two crewmen had reported sick and were sent ashore, but by the time Talune reached Suva
Suva
Suva features a tropical rainforest climate under the Koppen climate classification. The city sees a copious amount of precipitation during the course of the year. Suva averages 3,000 mm of precipitation annually with its driest month, July averaging 125 mm of rain per year. In fact,...
in Fiji on the 4th of November several more crewmen had influenza.
As none of the local passengers were stricken, they were allowed ashore and the cargo unloaded while the ship remained in quarantine alongside the wharf, the Port Health officer having heard reports of the severe epidemic in New Zealand. As was the custom of the time, about 90 Fijian labourers were taken on board to work the cargo as the ship proceeded on its planned voyage. By the time the Talune reached Apia in Samoa on the 7th of November most of the Fijian labourers were ill (Rice, p200).
The ship’s quarantine at Suva was apparently not mentioned on arrival in Apia (Cliff et al., p137) and the acting Port Health officer at Apia was not aware of the epidemic in Auckland (Rice, p200). After what seems to have been a somewhat cursory examination the ship was granted pratique
Pratique
Pratique is the license given to a ship to enter port on assurance from the captain to convince the authorities that he/she is free from contagious disease. The clearance granted is commonly referred to as Free Pratique....
and passengers allowed to disembark. “[The] Talune's captain told the medical officer, Doctor Atkinson, that nothing was serious, but that "'One old reverend told me he had been sick back in Auckland, but he seems fine now. Two Samoan kids, Tau and Faleolo, had headaches yesterday but are up and around again today.'" The doctor "questioned the pastor and two boys as they went by”, but no one complained of being ill. Two hours later the yellow flag was lowered. The Talune had a clean bill of health
Bill of health
A bill of health is a document from officials of a port of departure indicating to the officials of the port of arrival which indicates whether it is likely that the ship is carrying a contagious disease.As defined in a consul's handbook from 1879:...
."
By the 31st December at least 7,542 Samoan people had died from the virulent influenza, and deaths from influenza continued into 1919. A commission of enquiry calculated a final death toll of about 8,500, about 22% of the whole population of Western Samoa (Rice, p201). While the impact of the pandemic was undoubtedly amplified by the Samoan cultural response to illness, which requires the fono (family) to gather around a sick person, there is also no doubt that the New Zealand administrative response to the pandemic was at best inept. Much more could have been done to reduce the impact on the population, such as prohibiting travel within and between islands.
The original decision to allow the Talune’s passengers to land, along with other events during New Zealand’s administration of Samoa, was the subject of an apology from the New Zealand Government delivered at a State luncheon in Apia in June 2002.
The impact on Western Samoa was particularly poignant in view of the success of the American authorities in preventing pandemic influenza from gaining a foothold in islands under their administration, although these were only about 60 km from the New Zealand administered islands.
Without orders from his government, but based on what he learned from a radio news service, the governor of American Samoa, Navy Commander John M. Poyer, instituted a rigorous quarantine policy. When he heard of the outbreak on Western Samoa, he banned travel to or from the neighbouring islands. Poyer persuaded the island's natives to mount a shore patrol to prevent illegal landings. People who disembarked from ships sailing from the American mainland were kept under house arrest for a specified period, or examined daily. Aspects of the quarantine continued into mid-1920, a year after Poyer departed to the sound of a 17-gun salute. There were no influenza deaths on American Samoa.
The Talune went on from Apia to Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
(calling at Neiafu
Neiafu
-Tonga:*Neiafu – the second largest town in Tonga, located on Vava'u island.*Neiafu – a small village at the western end of Tongatapu island....
, Vava’u, Ha’Apai), and to Nuku’Alofa in Tongatapu
Tongatapu
Tongatapu is the main island of the Kingdom of Tonga and the location of its capital Nukualofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with approximately 71,260 residents , 70.5% of the national population...
, where it arrived on 12 November 1918. Within a few days of the Talune’s arrival the disease had spread with heavy loss of life; estimates vary between 1,800 and 2,000 died, or about 8% to 10% of the Tongan population. After Tongatapu the Talune sailed for Nauru
Nauru
Nauru , officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country in Micronesia in the South Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Kiribati, to the east. Nauru is the world's smallest republic, covering just...
, where once again the first cases of influenza appeared ashore within a few days of her departure.
Few if any voyages in history, whether in peace or war, have resulted in so many deaths in such a short time. The impact of the Talune’s deadly island voyage is still remembered today, and has influenced influenza pandemic planning into the 21st century.
Disposal
Nothing is known of Talune’s employment after its disastrous 1918 voyage until 1921, when Union Steamship Company records show it was laid up.In 1925 the ship was hulked
Hulk (ship)
A hulk is a ship that is afloat, but incapable of going to sea. Although sometimes used to describe a ship that has been launched but not completed, the term most often refers to an old ship that has had its rigging or internal equipment removed, retaining only its flotational qualities...
, and in November of that year was filled with rocks and scuttled to form the foundation of a breakwater at Waikokopu
Waikokopu
Waikokopu is a small coastal settlement in northern Hawke Bay, New Zealand, where the Waikokopu stream forms a small tidal estuary between two prominent headlands. ‘Waikokopu’ translates from Māori as 'water' or 'river' of the kokopu' , kokopu being any one of three species of small native...
, a small port in northern Hawke Bay
Hawke Bay
Hawke Bay is a large bay on the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It stretches from the Mahia Peninsula in the northeast to Cape Kidnappers in the southwest, a distance of some 100 kilometres....
, on the east coast of the North Island
North Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
of New Zealand.
Remains
The port of Waikokopu is no longer in use, and the wharf and breakwaterBreakwater
Breakwater may refer to:* Breakwater , a structure for protecting a beach or harbour* Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia* Breakwater , a funk and soul band from the 1970s...
have been reduced to rubble by southerly swells. The foundations of the breakwater where the last vestiges of the Talune lie can be seen on Google Earth
Google Earth
Google Earth is a virtual globe, map and geographical information program that was originally called EarthViewer 3D, and was created by Keyhole, Inc, a Central Intelligence Agency funded company acquired by Google in 2004 . It maps the Earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite...
at 39°04′23.74"S 177°49′44.25"E.