First arrival in New Zealand waters, 1912
History
Name	Maunganui (1911-1948) Cyrenia (1948-1957)
Namesake	Mount Maunganui
Owner	Union Steamship Company of New Zealand (1911-1947) G.M.Lykiardopulo (1947-1948) Cia Naviera del Atlantico (1948-1949) Hellenic Mediterranean Lines (1949-1957)
Builder	Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan
Yard number	479
Launched	24 August 1911
Completed	5 December 1911
Out of service	6 February 1957
Fate	Scrapped
General characteristics
Tonnage	7,527 gross register tonnage
Length	430.8 ft (131 m)
Beam	55.7 ft (17 m)
Draught	31.2 ft (10 m)
Propulsion	Quadruple expansion engines, twin screw
Speed	16 knots

The TSS Maunganui (later S/S Cyrenia) was a passenger vessel built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan for the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand and launched on 24 August 1911.^[1]

Career

Launched in 1911 to carry the Royal Mail and served on the San Francisco and Sydney runs. She was employed as a troopship during World War I and World War II. She was sold to Cia Naviera del Atlantica, Piraeus in 1948 and renamed Cyrenia. She was sold in 1949 to Hellenic Mediterranean Lines and undertook service from Genoa and Piraeus to Fremantle, Melbourne and Sydney, carrying Greek, Italian and Jewish refugees and migrants.^[2][3][4]

Fate

On 1 November 1956 she left Melbourne for the last time, arriving in Savona, Italy, on 6 February 1957 for ship breaking.^[5]

Cultural legacy

In Greece the S/S Cyrenia is prominent due to Nikos Kavvadias' poem "The Seven Dwarves on the S/S Cyrenia (Greek: Οι 7 νάνοι στο S/S Cyrenia) and Thanos Mikroutsikos' song mentioning the ship.^[6][7] Kavvadias was the ship's radio operator.