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SS Loongana was a Bass Strait ferry and mail ship that operated between Melbourne on the Australian mainland and Launceston in Tasmania. She was in Scotland and scrapped in 1936 in Japan. She was built for the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand, commonly called the "Union Company". In 1922 the Union Company transferred her to Tasmanian Steamers Pty Ltd.

Loongana was the Union Company's first steam turbine ship, and the first steam turbine ship to be registered in the Southern Hemisphere. In 1904 she was briefly the largest turbine steamship in the World. Until early in 1905 her route was the longest yet served by a turbine steamship.

Loongana was the first Bass Strait ferry swift enough to make three return trips each week between Melbourne and Launceston. Not until after the First World War did the route have more than one ferry able to maintain such a quick schedule.

Loongana's success encouraged the Union Company to order turbine ships for other routes from the same builder. The trans-Tasman liner SS Maheno was and the Wellington – Lyttelton ferry SS Maori (1907) was.

"Loongana" is a word from a Tasmanian Aboriginal language meaning "swift" or "fleet".

Background
William Denny and Brothers of Dumbarton built the TS King Edward,, which was the first steam turbine commercial ship in the World. She was a successful proof of concept, and was followed by the slightly larger TS Queen Alexandra,. Both were Clyde steamers, giving pleasure trips on the Firth of Clyde, which at the time was one of the largest centres of the UK shipbuilding industry.

Denny's had built ships for the Union Company since 1875, when it launched the steamships Hawea and Taupo. The Union Company's marine superintendent at the time, Captain WC Sinclair, made several trips on King Edward.

The Union Company held the Federal Australian Government contract to carry mail across the Bass Strait. Early in 1903 the Union Company ordered Loongana from Denny's to replace the Bass Strait ferry Pateena, which by then had been in service for two decades. The Union Company specified that Loongana should be turbine-powered. This was a bold move, as she was several times larger than King Edward and Queen Alexandra, and data on the efficiency and economy of turbines was still sparse.

Design and building
Denny's built Loongana with same three-screw arrangement as King Edward and Queen Alexandra. A high-pressure turbine drove a large middle screw. Exhaust steam from her middle turbine powered a pair of low-pressure turbines that drove smaller port and starboard screws. C. A. Parsons and Company of Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne built her turbines.

Each turbine was 15 ft long by 5 ft diameter. Between them the three turbines weighed a total of 42 tons. Reciprocating steam engines of comparable power output would have taken up more space and would have weighed a total of more than 100 tons.

Four boilers raised steam for her turbines. Two were double-ended and two were single-ended.

Loongana's steering gear was also modern. The helm on the bridge controlled her rudder not by traditional chains or rods but by hydraulics.

Mrs Cameron, wife of the Union Company's marine superintendent Captain Cameron, launched Loongana on 2 June 1904. It was reported that the new ship coast the Union Company £100,000.

Loongana was the largest turbine steamship in the World, albeit for only 12 weeks, until Workman, Clark and Company at Belfast launched the transatlantic liner RMS Victorian on 25 August.

Loongana was 310 ft long overall, 300.3 ft long between perpendiculars and had a beam of 43.1 ft. Denny's designed her with a relatively shallow draught so that she could negotiate the Tamar River as far upstream as Launceston even at the lowest tide. Her draught was variously reported to be 11 ft or 12 ft.

Loongana had three structural decks plus a shade deck. She had berths for 448 passengers, of whom 240 were first class. Sleeping cabins were on her lower deck: first class forward, and second class aft. Her galley, scullery, pantry and bakery were on her main deck, with her first class tea room forward and her second class dining room aft. Her first class dining room was on her upper deck forward and extended the width of her superstructure. The dining saloon was decorated with light polished oak framing, with green tapestry on the walls above the dado rails.

Her shade deck was mostly open except for two deckhouses. The forward deckhouse included cabins for her captain, chief officer and second officer, plus the first class music room, which had a Brinsmead piano. The music room was decorated with ivory white framing and panels of silk brocade, and had a Wilton carpet. The after deckhouse included the first class smoking room and bar. The smoking room was decorated with oak framing, stained and polished rich scarlet, panelled with brown leather, had sofas upholstered with Brussels moquette and black marble tables.

Her crew quarters were on her main deck, aft of her second class accommodation. She had only one cargo hold, which was aft. The ship had two funnels and two masts.

Preparations
Loongana's equipment included a windlass forward and warping winch aft, to enable her to turn herself in the confines of the Tamar at Launceston. However, after her launch there was concern that she might be too long to do so at all states of the tide. The longest ship to have turned at Launceston before Loongana was the Union Company's Wakatipu, which was 294 ft. Wakatipu was turned only at high tide, and only by warping her with her bow stuck in the mud of the river bank. At half ebb, Wakatipu could not be turned at all.

Launceston's harbourmaster recommended dredging the river to make a wider turning basin for Loongana. The superintendent of works feared that this would leave too little support for piling that protected the north bank of the river from erosion. The Harbour Improvements Committee recommended berthing Loongana at Town Pier, and dredging the river as necessary to turn ships of her size. On 12 July 1904 the Marine Board accepted the committee's recommendations.

In April 1903 Denny's launched the turbine ferry Queen for the South Eastern and Chatham Railway service across the Strait of Dover. A few months later the Union Company sent James W Dunlop, lately chief engineer of its cargo ship Waikare, to England to spend some months at Parsons' turbine factory in Heaton and gain experience of turbine operation aboard Queen. In March 1904 the company sent Captain Malcolm F Livingstone, an experienced Bass Strait ferry master, to Scotland to bring Loongana to Australia.

First voyages
In August 1904 Loongana undertook her sea trials. In her speed trial on 28 August over the nautical measured mile in the Firth of Clyde she reached 20 kn. On a longer test, without her single-ended boilers, and using only her double-ended boilers, she developed 4,900 ihp and maintained 19 kn for six hours. She was expected to maintain a speed of 18 kn in regular service, which would reduce the journey time between Melbourne and Launceston to about 16 hours.

On 2 September Loongana began her maiden voyage from Glasgow to Melbourne. From Glasgow to the Suez Canal she averaged 16 kn. She bunkered at Perim in the Red Sea and Colombo in Ceylon. Crossing the Indian Ocean the southeasterly trade winds and some very heavy seas slowed her down, but her officers were very pleased with her seakeeping. Overall from Glasgow to Fremantle she averaged 15 kn.

On the evening of 1 October she reached Fremantle, where The West Australian claimed that "without doubt, the Loongana is the finest passenger vessel on the Australian coasts". On the evening of 7 October she reached Melbourne.

Despite being a new ship that had been launched only four months earlier, Loongana was immediately dry docked in Duke and Orr's Dock, a wooden-lined dry dock at South Wharf on the Yarra River.

Loongana was opened to public view for the weekend of 15–16 October. Admission was by ticket, with the proceeds to charity, and more than 1,000 people visited the ship over the two days.

On 17 October Loongana made an afternoon trip in Port Phillip to adjust her compasses. Aboard were 700 invited business people and federal and state politicians including Prime Minister George Reid, Postmaster-General Sydney Smith and Premier of Victoria Thomas Bent. The trip included a test run from the Gellibrand lightship to West Channel Pile Light, on which she was timed at just under 20 kn.

The route across the Bass Strait between Melbourne and Launceston is 444 km. This was the longest route yet served by a turbine ship until RMS Victorian made her transatlantic maiden voyage in March 1905. At 1545 hrs on 19 October 1904 Loongana left Queen's Wharf, Melbourne on her first Bass Strait crossing with 155 passengers including Union Company chairman James Mills and Senator for Tasmania John Keating. She reached Launceston at 0800 hrs the next morning and was made fast at the Town Pier at 0810 hrs. This was a new record time for the crossing.

Loongana was in Launceston only three hours before departing on her return run to Melbourne. Down the Tamar a tender met her bearing passengers and mail from Rosevears. The return crossing was slower, using only two of her four boilers and limiting her speed to 17 kn, in order not to reach Melbourne before breakfast on the morning of 21 October. After disembarking her passengers in Melbourne, Loongana was opened to public visitors until 2200 hrs.

Service
Loongana was scheduled to make three round trips each week between Melbourne and Launceston.

On the night of 23–24 December 1904 Loongana broke her own speed record for crossing the Bass Strait by 32 minutes. On a voyage from Melbourne to Launceston her time from Port Philip Heads to Low Head was 9 hours and 28 minutes, meaning that her average speed over the 196 nmi "from heads to heads" was more than 20 kn.

At about 1900 hrs on 3 May 1905 Loongana ran aground off Swan Island. She refloated herself after 25 minutes by pumping out some of her ballast.

On 5 October 1907 on a crossing from Launceston to Melbourne Loongana's port turbine failed. She reached Melbourne under her own power, was taken out of service for repair and was ready to resume service on her afternoon sailing on 9 October.

On 19 January 1908 Loongana lost two blades of her centre propeller in the Yarra. She remained in service, crossing to Launceston and back, before being dry docked in Melbourne for a few hours to replace the missing blades.

On 9 April 1908 Loongana reached Launceston seven hours late due to fog. As a result she did not leave Launceston until 1910 hrs. In order to make up time she broke her own speed record, crossing from Low Head to Port Phillip Heads in 11 hours 15 minutes.

On 20–21 August 1908 Loongana developed a steering problem. On arrival at Launceston on 21 August a diver examined her rudder. He found that rivets securing one of the plates of her rudder had become worn, allowing the plate to be bent out of shape. When Loongana got back to Melbourne on 23 August she was briefly dry docked for her rudder to be repaired. Her running schedule was not interrupted.

On 29 August 1908 the United States Navy's Great White Fleet visited Melbourne. The Salvation Army chartered Loongana from Melbourne to see the fleet in Port Phillip. Loongana carried 1,176 passengers for the excursion. With other vessels carrying spectators she hove to off Queenscliff. Loongana raised the flag signal "Salvation Army Welcomes Fleet", which the flagship USS Connecticut (BB-18) acknowledged.

On 10 September 1908 Loongana was taken out of service at Melbourne for three weeks for her annual overhaul. The Union Company substituted SS Rotomahana (1879) to make two sailings a week, and William Holyman of Launceston provided his small steamship Wareatea, to maintain a schedule of three sailings per week. Loongana returned to service on 2 October.

In November 1908 Loongana again suffered damage to one of her propellers. The cause seems to have been a snag in the Tamar. She was dry docked in Melbourne on 11 November, and Rotomahana again took over her duties. Loongana returned to service on 18 November.

On Christmas Eve, 24 December 1908, Loongana began her 500th crossing from Melbourne to Launceston. On her return to Melbourne on 27 December she had completed 277000 nmi in service across the Bass Strait.

Naval exercise
On 11 April 1909 the Victorian Naval Forces and Australian Army used Loongana to test Melbourne's defences against naval attack. Before dawn, and hastened by a flood tide, she steamed at full speed through The Rip from the open sea into Port Phillip to simulate the approach of a hostile cruiser.

Observers estimated that she was within range of the guns of Fort Nepean and Fort Queenscliff, either side of The Rip, for 12 minutes. Fort Nepean's BL 9.2-inch Mk VI guns could have fired only six rounds each in that time. However, it was claimed that Fort Queenscliff had quick-firing guns that could have fired on Loongana more rapidly. She would have then had to get past the guns of South Channel Fort in order to reach and attack Melbourne or shipping on Port Phillip.

Coal strike and minor mishaps
On 10 September 1909 Loongana was taken out of service for her annual overhaul at Melbourne. As in 1908, the Union Company substituted Holyman's Wareatea to maintain the service frequency with Rotomahana. Traders in Launceston criticised the substitute as unsatisfactory.

Loongana returned to service on schedule, leaving Melbourne on 1 October 1909. But on her first crossing her port turbine overheated and had to be shut down. She got up the Tamar on 2 October with the help of a flood tide, and reached Launceston 3$1/2$ hours late.

Also on 2 October 1909, the river steamer Togo tried to pass Loongana in the Tamar on the wrong side. As a result Togo partly grounded, swung around, and damaged her bow against Loongana's side. The harbourmaster concluded that Togo was at fault, noted that it was her third collision, and recommended that persons employed on river steamers be required to pass an eyesight test.

At the beginning of November 1909 a strike by New South Wales coal miners started at South Clifton and spread to pits in the Maitland and Newcastle areas. The Postmaster-General, John Quick, allowed the Union Company to reduce Loongana's sailings from three to two trips each way a week, and she ran at reduced speed to economise on coal. Sailings from Launceston to Melbourne were also slowed down by her being bunkered with Tasmanian coal instead of Newcastle coal. On several occasions Loongana's reduced performance on poor coal caused her to reach Launceston too late for her mail to reach the express train to Hobart.

On 4–5 February 1910 Loongana's rudder was damaged on a crossing from Launceston to Melbourne. She was dry docked for repair at Melbourne, and early on 7 February she was refloated and returned to service.

On 22 February coal miners at South Clifton returned to work. Later that week miners in the Newcastle area voted to return to work, but their employers locked them out. John Quick asked for Loongana's schedule to be restored to three round trips a week, but the Union Company replied that there was still not enough good coal to do so. Loongana's thrice-weekly schedule was restored on On 22 March 1910.

Early in October 1910 the Yarra was in flood for several days after heavy rain. On 12 October the current caught Loongana as she was being turned around. Her stern hit a wharf, causing damage to both her middle propeller and the timbers of the wharf. Her departure to Launceston was delayed for about eight hours while she was dry docked at Duke and Orr's dock for her propeller to be repaired. On 28 October the Marine Board of Victoria cautioned Captain Emslie for not taking enough precautions against the strong current.

Limits on speed and passenger numbers
In 1910 Loongana was licenced to carry 382 cabin passengers. Early in January 1911 the Tasamanian Marine Board wrote to the Marine Board of Victoria complaining that the number of passengers she carried on 24 and 27 December was excessive. The Victorian board replied that between 19 and 30 December it had licenced Loongana to carry 118 deck passengers in addition to her cabin passengers, increasing her total to 500.

However, the Tasmanian board noted that the Board of Trade regulation under which the Victorian board had licenced the deck passengers applied only to voyages that did not exceed ten hours from port to port. And one member of the Tasmanian board questioned whether Loongana had enough lifeboats for her extra passengers. Nevertheless, the Tasmanian board did not pursue the matter further.

In June and August 1911 there were complaints that Loongana exceeded speed limits on the Tamar, and the August incident caused an accident to a ketch.

On 11 September 1911 Loongana was dry docked in Melbourne for her annual overhaul. Despite public complaints in previous years, in her absence the only services were provided by Rotomahana sailing twice a week and Wareatea running on a revised timetable. Loongana returned to service on 29 September.

Each year, demand for passenger berths during the Christmas holiday season exceeded Loongana's capacity. For the 1911 Christmas season, Rotomahana was scheduled to make two special trips from Melbourne to Launceston to help Loongana to meet demand.

Proposals for a second ship
In 1912 the Melbourne – Launceston mail contract was due to be renewed for a further three-year contract. That August, the Tasmanian politician Jens Jensen urged Postmaster-General Charlie Frazer to consider specifying two ships of Loongana's size, capacity and speed, in order to increase the service from three trips a week to daily. By September, the politicians Laird Smith, David O'Keefe and James Long were also lobbying Frazer with the same aim.

The Union Company and Huddart, Parker offered to add a second ship to match Loongana by 1914. In return, the companies wanted a seven-year contract to make the second ship worthwhile. Frazer was not satisfied, so he awarded a contract to continue the present one-ship service for a reduced period of two years.

Some politicians proposed creating a government-owned shipping company to improve the service. John Keating said the company should be owned by the Commonwealth government. The Labor Senator Rudolph Ready said it could be owned by either the Commonwealth or Tasmanian State government.

Loongana's annual overhaul for 1912 was scheduled to start on 17 August. In one crossing from Launceston to Melbourne in late September she covered the distance "from heads to heads" in just under 10 hours, which equated to a speed of 19+1/2 kn.

North Mount Lyell mine fire
On Saturday 12 October, fire broke out deep below ground in the North Mount Lyell copper mine in western Tasmania, trapping dozens of miners deep below ground. The Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company lacked smoke helmets. At 1600 hrs on 14 October, Loongana left Melbourne carrying two members of the city's Metropolitan Fire Brigade equipped with smoke helmets. One of the firefighters had been a miner at North Lyell. Loongana's destination was changed to Burnie to land the firefighters as near as possible to the mine. Loongana fired all four of her boilers, and despite rough weather completed the 215 miles from Melbourne Wharf to Burnie Wharf in 13 hours 25 minutes. Passengers for Launceston were taken from Burnie by special train. Loongana then continued from Burnie to Launceston to make her return crossing to Melbourne as usual.

Service difficulties
On 16 March 1913 Loongana completed her thousandth trip between Melbourne and Launceston. But later that month, the frequency with which she arrived late was criticised, the service was described as "unpunctual" and "eccentric", and her operators were blamed. The Union Company blamed some of the delays on the Tamar not being deep enough at some states of the tide, and not being dredged enough. The Marine Board claimed that on each occasion the water had been deep enough for Loongana.

On 8 August 1913 Loongana went out of service for her annual overhaul. The Huddart, Parker steamship SS Westralia (1896) joined Rotomahana to operate the Bass Strait service until Loongana was due to return on 5 September. Westralias draught was deeper than Loonganas, which made it difficult for her to turn in the Tamar, to run to time, and to land passengers at the wharf.

The sinking of RMS Titanic in 1912, killing more than 1,500 of her passengers and crew, exposed the fact that Board of Trade regulations allowed passenger ships operate without enough lifeboats. In response to the sinking, ship-owners increased safety equipment aboard passenger ships, and national and international regulations were improved. In Loongana's 1913 overhaul, all of her life rafts and collapsible boats were removed, and they were replaced with four additional lifeboats to comply with the new regulations.

In the same overhaul, the ventilation of Loongana's passenger quarters was improved with additional electric fans, and her upper deck was extended to increase wet-weather promenade space. Her public saloons were extensively redecorated with new upholstery, and oak panels to replace the tapestries on the walls of her dining room. New curtains were hung in her public saloons and private cabins. Two more derricks were added to her deck to improve her cargo-handling. Her turbines were overhauled, and she was fitted with a set of three new propellers.

Order for a second ship
In June 1913 Agar Wynne succeeded Charlie Frazer as Postmaster-General. Wynne continued negotiations with Huddart, Parker for a second ship to match Loongana to be added to the route, in return for an increased annual mail subsidy.

In January 1914, Huddart, Parker met the Marine Board to discuss improvements to Launceston harbour to accommodate a new ship. Later that month it was reported that John Clemons, acting for the Postmaster-General, had negotiated a new contract with Huddart, Parker, and the company had ordered a new ship to join Loongana. She was to match Loongana's speed of 20 knots, but she would have capacity for 390 passengers.

All the earliest turbine steamships, including Loongana, had direct drive from their turbines to their screws. This tended to involve three turbines and three screws. Loongana had a high-pressure turbine driving her middle screw. Her port and starboard screws were each driven by a low-pressure turbine. A few years after Loongana was built, reduction gearing for turbine ships was developed, which improved propeller efficiency, fuel economy, and flexibility of operation. Accordingly, the new ship was to be built with reduction gearing. Reduction gearing enabled the new ship to be designed with two screws and a total of four turbines. Each screw was to be driven by two turbines: one high-pressure and the other low-pressure.

William Denny and Brothers were contracted to build the new ship, which was to be called HMS Nairana (1917). In August 1914 it was reported that she was being built. She was intended to be delivered in September 1915. However, in January 1915 Denny's reported that her completion would be delayed, because the company had to prioritise building destroyers and submarines for the Admiralty. In August 1916 Nairana still lay incomplete in Denny's shipyard in Dumbarton, Scotland. It was reported that it would take only two months' work to complete her, but all available labour was employed on war work.

In March 1918 Huddart, Parker's annual general meeting was told that Nairana had been completed but had "been taken for useful service elsewhere". In fact she had been completed in August 1917 and commissioned as a Royal Navy seaplane tender.

Wireless
In January 1914 the first International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea was adopted. It required ships of Loongana's speed and passenger capacity to be equipped for wireless telegraphy, but only if they were trading internationally (Article 2) and operated more than 150 miles from the nearest coast (Article 32). Hence Loongana, despite carrying some hundreds of passengers, was not required to be equipped.

Nevertheless, Jens Jensen and Rudolph Ready called for Loongana to be equipped. Early in October 1914 the Union Company said that it was negotiating for the Australian Wireless Company to do so "as soon as possible". By late November there was still no news of this being done, so Ready was asking in the Senate when the equipment would be installed. By January 1915 wireless telegraph equipm7ent had been installed aboard Loongana. It included an emergency transceiver that could operate independently of the ship's dynamo.

Incidents
On 24 January 1915, Loongana was about 60 miles off Port Phillip Heads en route from Launceston to Melbourne when fire was discovered in her forward hold. It took her crew two hours to put the fire out. Some of her cargo and mails were damaged by either the fire, or the water used to fight it. An investigation ruled out arson, and concluded that the fire was most probably accidental.

On the night of 8–9 March 1915, Loongana was crossing from Melbourne to Launceston in a west-southwest gale when she suffered damage to either her middle screw or its propeller shaft. Her engineers shut down the high-pressure turbine powering her middle screw, and she continued using only the low-pressure turbines powering her port and starboard screws. As a result she reached Launceston on 9 March about eight hours late, and her subsequent schedule had to be revised to allow for repairs.

At Melbourne on 1 August 1915, Loongana was taken out of service for her annual overhaul. The Union Company sent Pateena from New Zealand to work with Rotomahana during Loongana's absence. Pateena attracted criticism for steering badly and looking unkempt. Loongana was out of service for two months, and resumed service on 1 October.

On 7–8 October Loongana broke her own record for crossing the Bass Strait. On a trip from Launceston to Melbourne she left Launceston at 1410 hrs on 7 October and cleared Low Head at 1627 hrs. The next day she entered Port Phillip Heads at 0213 hrs and berthed in Melbourne at 0455 hrs. She crossed the Strait in 9 hours 46 minutes, at an average of 20.1 kn, and completed her full trip from wharf to wharf at 19+1/2 kn.

On 26–27 April 1916, Loongana crossed from Launceston to Melbourne against a strong westerly wind. About 15 miles off Port Phillip Heads her rudder became almost unworkable. The tug Nyora was sent from Williamstown towed Loongana to her berth in the Yarra. Loongana was dry-docked in Melbourne, where it was found she had lost almost the whole of her rudder.

During Loongana's absence for repairs, Rotomahana and another Union Company ship, Oonah, each made two round trips a week between Melbourne and Launceston. After her rudder repair was completed, Loongana returned to service on 17 May. She reached Launceston the next day, carrying passengers including 32 Australian Imperial Force soldiers who had been returned home to Tasmania with medical conditions for convalescence.

On 30 August 1916, Loongana began her annual overhaul in Melbourne. Oonah again deputised for her on the Melbourne – Launceston route. Loongana's overhaul was scheduled to be completed on 11 September, but took longer than planned, so Oonah had to continue to cover for her until 16 or 18 September.

At the end of September 1916, coal miners around Newcastle, NSW went on strike. By 12 November Loongana was running at a reduced speed of 14 kn to save coal. This increased her journey time from Melbourne to Launceston to 20$1/2$ hours. From 30 November, the Union Company was ordered to reduce her sailings to one a week in each direction.

Loongana's agents responded by asking the Marine Board in Melbourne to increase the number of passengers she was allowed to carry. At the time, she was certificated to carry 382 passengers. The agents persuaded the Marine Board to increase this to 414. From 4 December the Union Company was allowed to increase Loongana's schedule to twice a week in each direction. On 12 December Jens Jensen, who by then was Minister for the Navy, announced that Loongana would be allowed to resume running her full schedule of three trips a week in each direction.

After a full coal supply was restored, Loongana was accused of continuing to run unduly slowly in the early months of 1917. It was reported that she was not being bunkered with the best coal. As a result, her trips from wharf to wharf were reported to be taking from 18$1/2$ hours in favourable weather to 22 hours in unfavourable seas. The express train from Launceston to Hobart was sometimes delayed by hours to allow passengers and mail from the Loongana to catch it. Complaints of slow running continued until early March, with Rudolph Ready lobbying the government to get her supplied with better coal.

Screw, turbine and hull damage
On the night of 6–7 April 1917 a southwest gale "of unusual violence" hit Launceston and the Bass Strait. Loongana, crossing from Melbourne to Launceston that night, was forced to reduce speed. She lost her wireless aerial, for a while her electric lighting failed, and she passed Low Heads three hours late.

On 9–10 April 1917, again crossing from Melbourne to Launceston, Loongana lost one blade of her middle screw. At reduced speed, using only her port and starboard screws driven by her low-pressure turbines, she continued under her own power to Launceston. On 10–11 April she returned under her own power to Melbourne, where the Union Company and Huddart, Parker decided to keep her in service.

On the afternoon of 12 April Launceston left Melbourne for Launceston, still running on only her low-pressure turbines. Within a couple of hours her starboard low-pressure turbine failed. The nearest vessel able to assist was the dredger Batman, which helped Loongana to turn around and return to North Wharf. Rotomahana was substituted to make two round trips each week between Melbourne and Launceston. Rotomahana was smaller and slower than Loongana. She was also criticised for lacking wireless.

Loongana was dry-docked in Melbourne, where her middle screw was repaired. Her starboard turbine could not be repaired there, so she left under her own power on 22 April for Sydney, where she arrived on the morning of 25 April. The correct metal to repair her turbine was not available in Australia, had to be ordered from Britain, and would take months to be delivered. Answering a question from John Keating, Edward Russell assured the Commonwealth Senate that the government paid its mail subsidy to the Union Company and Huddart, Parker only for the number of trips that its ships actually performed.

Loongana put into the dockyards on Cockatoo Island to be repaired. In September 1917 it was reported that the turbine parts that she needed from Britain were unobtainable. In November it was reported that a strike in the Cockatoo yards had delayed completion of her repair.

Loongana's repair was finally completed, and on 4 January 1918 she left Sydney for Melbourne. However, the repair proved unsuccessful, so her voyage was aborted and the next day she returned to Sydney. By 22 January the fault was rectified and Loongana had left Sydney, and on 24 January she reached Melbourne. On 25 January she returned to service, leaving Melbourne that day and reaching Launceston the next morning.

On 3 February 1918 Loongana was dry docked in Melbourne for one of her propeller shafts to be changed and part of her hull to be painted. The work was completed and she left dock the next day. Later on 4 February a derrick was used to hoist a spare tail shaft, weighing 2$1/2$ tons, out of her after hold. A pin in the hook of the derrick broke, dropping the shaft back into the hold, where it punctured her stern plate below the waterline. Water entered Loongana's hold, and she was quickly returned to dry dock for her hull to be repaired. The repair to Loongana's hull was completed on 5 February, and she returned to service.

End of the First World War
Toward the end of 1918 a French diplomatic mission toured Australia. Members of the mission including General Paul Pau visited Tasmania. Loongana took them from Melbourne to Launceston on 16–17 October and brought them back on 22–23 October. For the outward crossing from Melbourne to Launceston, Loongana was dressed overall.

Loongana dressed overall again on the night of 11 November. She was at sea en route to Launceston when her wireless telegraphist received news of the Armistice. When she reached Launceston, her crew asked the Union Company to give them a holiday when she returned to Melbourne, and told the company that they would take a holiday whether or not it were granted. When Loongana got back to Melbourne on 13 November, her crew went ashore to celebrate, and her departure to Launceston that had been scheduled for 14 November was postponed by 24 hours.

Firemen's dispute
On 1 January 1919 Loongana reached Melbourne from Launceston. On the same day the articles (of employment) of her firemen and trimmers expired, and they refused to sign on for another voyage unless their pay was increased to £16 a month. This was more than a recent compulsory arbitration process had awarded, so the Union Company refused.

On 3 January 1919 fire broke out in Loongana's galley, and spread to her pantry, which was on the deck immediately above. The Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Brigade quickly put out the fire. The galley was burnt out, but there was little other damage.

Other Bass Strait ferries continued to operate, but by 8 January the labour dispute included men on Union Company ships elsewhere: Atua, Makura, Manuka, Moeraki and Moira. On 19 January the Federated Seamen's Union accepted that the men would work at the rates awarded by the arbitration process, and on 21 January Loongana returned to service and sailed for Launceston.

Troop repatriations and Spanish flu
In January 1919 the third wave of the Spanish flu pandemic reached Australia. Tasmania was given quarantine protection to try to prevent infection reaching the island. At first, Hobart was the only Tasmanian port with quarantine facilities. Passenger shipping to and from the island was restricted.

On 28 January Rotomahana, which was en route from Melbourne to Burnie and Devonport, was recalled to Melbourne on the advice of the Federal Quarantine authorities. Her mail and perishable cargo transferred to Loongana, which on 29 January sailed to the Tamar without passengers. Her cargo included what was described as "serum" to inoculate 5,000 people on Tasmania. For quarantine reasons Loongana went only as far as Rosevears, where the tender Rowitta from Launceston met her to take off her mail and cargo, and to put aboard about 350 passengers travelling from Launceston to Melbourne.

Loongana's scheduled service was then suspended, and she spent a week laid up in Melbourne. However, troops were returning to Australia from the First World War, and troop ships did not always disembark them in their home states. Hundreds were left in Army camps around Melbourne awaiting transport home. The Shipping Controller for the Commonwealth government, Rear Admiral Sir William Clarkson, therefore used Loongana as a troop ship to take them from Melbourne to their home states.

On 7 February Loongana was to take 375 returning Tasmanian troops to Hobart. However, firemen demanded one month's pay for the trip to Tasmania and back. The Victorian branch of the Federated Seamen's Union said that supplying a crew for Loongana would contravene influenza regulations, as 24 crewmen would have to eat and sleep together in a confined space. A non-union crew was signed on, and on 8 February Loongana left Melbourne. On 10 February she put the troops ashore at Barnes Bay, where they were quarantined.

Loongana took passengers from Barnes Bay to Melbourne, where her crew was paid off at their own request. The Federal Government wanted her next to take troops, some with their wives and children, to Brisbane. But a complete crew could not be found, so Loongana remained at Melbourne. The Federated Seamen's Union continued to demand better crew quarters to comply with health regulations. A full crew was eventually signed on, and on 22 February Loongana left Melbourne carrying the troops and their families. On 26 February they disembarked at Lytton Quarantine Station in Brisbane.

Loongana got back to Melbourne on 3 March. The Shipping Controller had planned for her to leave again on 4 March, carrying another contingent of troops hope to Tasmania. However, one of her crew was diagnosed with Spanish 'flu, so Loongana was detained at Point Nepean quarantine grounds. After four days she was released, and on 7 March she left Melbourne carrying Tasmanian troops and a small number of their wives and nurses. Loongana and her passengers were quarantined at Point Nepean, and then continued to Launceston, where they arrived on 15 March. Loongana got back to Melbourne on 18 March.

Loongana continued to run between Melbourne and Launceston. She next left Melbourne on 20 March 1919. She was anchored at Point Nepean for seven days' quarantine, and reached Launceston on 28 March.

Loongana next left Melbourne on 1 April, carrying passengers including 59 Tasmanian troops. She was due to reach Launceston on 9 April, but a case of Spanish 'flu was found aboard her, so her quarantine off Point Nepean was extended until 14 April. Her crew used the delay to paint and clean the ship. The patient from Loongana developed bacterial pneumonia – a secondary infection common in the Spanish 'flu pandemic – and died on 12 April. But no further cases developed aboard Loongana, so she was allowed to continue. She reached Launceston on 15 April, and left the next day to return to Melbourne.

The Herald newspaper managed to find humour amid the tragedy and delay. On 14 April it published an article describing any attempt to cross the Bass Strait by ferry as a chance of a relaxing holiday of up to 15 days for an inclusive fare of only 35 shillings. It particularly recommended the voyage to anglers, "as the greater part of the time is spent on the Portsea fishing grounds". This was a reference to quarantine at Point Nepean, which The Herald article renamed "the Loongana Lagoon".

On 19 April Loongana left Melbourne bringing home 69 or 70 Tasmanian troops who had reached Australia on two troop ships. She anchored off Portsea for seven days' quarantine, but this was extended when an influenza case was found aboard. She reached Launceston on 29 April, where the troops were welcomed by Red Cross Society officials, and a band playing Home! Sweet Home!. Loongana left the next day to return to Melbourne.

In April 1919 the Third Court in Melbourne convicted two men of travelling illegally aboard Loongana. Herman Vahldick, a German who had lived in Australia since 1911, had been caught in November 1918 sailing on her from Tasmania to the mainland under a false name and without permission from the military authorities. Peter Sophionis, a Greek teenager, was convicted of changing his place of abode without permission. Both were fined, and Vahldick was imprisoned for a week.

On 1 May 1919 Loongana reached Melbourne, and after disembarking her passengers she was dry docked for cleaning and painting. She left dry dock on 3 May.

On 5 May Loongana left Melbourne for Launceston via quarantine off Point Nepean. Two influenza cases were found aboard, which delayed her release from quarantine. On 15 May she reached Launceston and disembarked 51 returning soldiers. She left Launceston on 16 May and reached Melbourne the next day.

Seamen's dispute
On 19 May 1919 a seamen's dispute that had begun in Queensland spread to Victoria. Loongana's crew was the first to take action, giving her Master 24 hours' notice that they would cease work and leave the ship. Crews on most other ships in port in Melbourne rapidly followed suit. Mail and troops that Loongana had been due to take to Tasmania left on 22 May aboard Rotomahana instead.