Maupihaʻa (Maupihaa), also known as Mopelia, is an atoll in the Leeward group (Iles sous le Vent) of the Society Islands, in the South Pacific.
In 1917, the atoll was leased to a Papeete company, with three employees producing copra, and raising pigs and chickens and collecting turtles.
In the same year, Count Felix von Luckner of the famed SMS Seeadler visited the island during his voyage to raid Allied shipping in the South Pacific during the First World War.
After a short time, rough seas and wind caused the Seeadler to run aground on Mopelia's reef, leaving von Luckner and more than 100 others.
[6] Meanwhile, the rest of his crew captured a French schooner, Lutece, which called at Mopelia, sailed it to Easter Island arriving on 4 October and ran aground there, after which they were interned by the Chilean authorities.