HMAS Matafele was a small cargo and passenger vessel which was operated by Burns Philp from 1938 to 1942 and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) from 1943 until she was lost with all of her crew as a result of an accident in June 1944.

[3] After a short period in Townsville, Queensland to repair a fractured bearing in the starboard engine, Matafele sailed for Milne Bay on 18 June with 215 tons of naval stores.

[3] There was no reply, but on 24 June, a Bristol Beaufort overflying the China Strait reported seeing the vessel underway but struggling close to the coast in heavy weather.

[3][4] After no reply was received and the ship still did not arrive, the Naval Officer in Charge New Guinea had a second transmission sent, with orders to break radio silence and report.

[3] The lack of reply prompted a search by the Bathurst-class corvettes Townsville, Latrobe, Goulburn, and Geelong, the motor launches 1338 and 1339, and aircraft from Cairns and New Guinea; again with no results.

[4] A Board of Inquiry concluded in October 1944 that Matafele had foundered en route, likely on 20 June, with all aboard (4 officers, 20 RAN sailors, and 13 Pacific Island crew) lost.