The Twin Screw Motor Vessel Manunda was built by William Beardmore and Company at Dalmuir in Scotland.

[7] She arrived in Australia in June 1929 to begin her duties on the Australian coastal trade, running passengers and cargo between Sydney, Fremantle, Melbourne and Cairns.

[8] She was converted into a hospital ship at Sydney in compliance with the Geneva Convention Regulations and was taken over by the authorities on 25 May 1940, and entered service as AHS Manunda on 22 July 1940, under Captain James Garden, previously the captain of the Adelaide Steamship Company Manoora and Commodore of the Adelaide Steamship Fleet.

On the morning of 19 February 1942, Manunda was damaged during the Japanese air raids on Darwin, despite her highly prominent red cross markings on a white background.

Her Citation included "...On one occasion when the ship was in Darwin it was badly damaged...It was especially during this period that MATRON SHUMACK displayed very great calmness and exceptional devotion to duty, and her quiet and confident manner was an inspiration to all her fellow workers".

[11] After a refit in Adelaide, she went to Milne Bay in Papua New Guinea, where she acted as a floating hospital for the Allied forces who were stationed there.

After the Japanese surrender, Manunda was despatched to Singapore to repatriate ex-POWs and civilian internees[6] who had been imprisoned in Changi Prison.

[16] In September[17] 1956 she was withdrawn from service and sold to the Japanese Okadagumi Line, who renamed the vessel Hakone Maru.

[6] The company's plans for the ship did not eventuate, and she was broken up the next year in Japan,[18] arriving in Osaka for scrapping on 18 June 1957.