Starboard view of the Burns Philp Inter Island Trader Matafele prior to being commissioned into the RAN as a stores carrier.
As part of the RAN, the Matafele continued to operate off the Papuan coast, transporting stores as well as supporting survey and navigation activities. It was refitted in Sydney during February-March 1944 after which it began operations as a store carrier between Queensland ports and Milne Bay. After rectifying a bearing fracture on the starboard main engine, it left Townsville for Milne Bay on 18 June 1944 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Charles Frederick Symonds, RN carrying some 215 tonnes of naval stores and mail for the soldiers and RAAF personnel at Milne Bay.
It had been routed via the Grafton Passage through positions 015 degrees 22 minutes south, 146 degrees 51 minutes east thence direct to Brumer Island and then through the China Strait to its destination. Its speed of advance was 7.5 knots and its estimated time of arrival at Milne Bay was 06:00K on 22 June 1944. Matafele was alleged to have been sighted by a patrolling Allied aircraft west China Strait close inshore making slow speed against heavy weather at 15:15K on 24 June 1944: but this sighting was later found to be a different vessel. On 23 June, Matafele was overdue and the Naval Officer in Command New Guinea directed its to report its position and expected time of arrival at Milne Bay; no reply was received.
On 26 June 1944 the Naval Officer in Charge New Guinea ordered Matafele to break radio silence and report its position, but again no reply was received. This triggered a wide scale search, by sea and air, off the coast of Papua and out into the Coral Sea; but no sign of its was discovered. Several weeks later some wreckage thought to be from Matafele was found off the south coast of Papua, including a boat oar with Matafele carved into the blade. None of the wreckage showed signs of damage due to enemy action. A Board of Inquiry was subsequently convened and it was presumed that HMAS Matafele foundered sometime on 20 June 1944, due to bad weather in the Coral Sea, with the loss of all hands which included 4 officers, 20 sailors and 13 Melanesian seamen.
The disappearance of Matafele remains a mystery, with the exact cause of its loss and the location of the wreck unknown. A memorial to perpetuate the memory of those lost in Matafele can be found in the memorial section of Point Danger Park, Tweed Heads, Queensland.