Name SS Pruth Yard number 511 Tonnage 4698 gross ton Draft 7.9 m Builder J.L. Thompson and Sons | Owner Hain Steamship Company Identification IMO number 1139109 Length 122 m Beam 16 m | |
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Fate Wrecked upon Nateara Reef, Port Moresby in 1923 | ||
SS Pruth was a 4698 gross ton steam ship built by J.L. Thompson and Sons, Sunderland for the Hain Steamship Company in 1916. She was on a voyage from New York to Cairns, via Port Moresby when she was wrecked upon Natara Reef near Port Moresby on 31 December 1923. Attempts to salvage her failed. Her wreck became known as the "Moresby Wreck".
Her wreck was used for strafing and bombing practice by the United States Army Air Forces Fifth Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force in 1942 and 1943 during World War II. Six Allied aircraft crashed while undertaking the strafing and bombing practice.
References
SS Pruth (1916) Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA