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--Also Covering the T.E.V. Rangatira of 1972--
from
Introduction:
However, seven years before the grand SS Nieuw
Amsterdam was built, a much smaller ship was constructed for the Union Steam
Ship Company (USSCo) of
However, this much smaller ship would be
completed as the somewhat more humble, Union Steam Ship “Inter-Island
Express Steamer” 6,152 GRT (Gross Registered Tons) T.E.V. Rangatira that
would be completed in 1931, and yes she was one of the of the most pleasing and
beautiful looking ships I have seen besides my beloved SS Nieuw Amsterdam! I
recall the days when I lived in
Many believe that the TSS Awatea was better
looking ship and indeed she was a one of the most beautiful ships possible, but
there was something very special when it came to the perfect balance of the
T.E.V. Rangatira and you will realise that she was indeed sheer perfection in
maritime design for a ship of her size and remember that she was essentially
built to be an overnight ferry!
A
full colour postcard of Union Steam Ship Co T.E.V. Rangatira
Building & Launching the New Ship:
The directors of the USSCo commenced planning
for a replacement ship for the aging 1907 built SS Maori and early in 1930 they
came up with the plans of a two funnelled and two masts, whilst being a super
efficient steam ship due to her turbo-electric motors capable of sailing at
high speeds, thus able to shorten the voyage between Wellington, New
Zealand’s Capital in the south of the North Island and Lyttelton being
the port of Christchurch, being the largest city in the South Island.
Then in September 1930 the USSCo finally
placed an ordered for their new ship to be built by Vickers Armstrong Ltd, at
Barrow-in-Furness the
The
Rangatira slips down into the water having been launched on April 16, 1931
She was taken to her fit-our berth, however on the very same day of her being launched, a fire broke out and damaged some of the passenger accommodations, which did delay her delivery by around a month.
New Zealand
Bound:
Upon the ships completion and having
undertaken her sea trails she was made ready for her delivery voyage to
However, whilst she was still at sea heading
for
“The Rangatira”
“New
Turbo-Electric Liner.”
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that she
would arrive on October 10, but as we know, they were out by six days, for the
T.E.V Rangatira would arrive on October 16 to “a huge welcome” in
Considering the weather was mild and sunny all of the New Zealand Newspapers were all present as well as large number of the public and ship lovers who were waiting for the Rangatira to arrive. As soon as she came into sight everyone was astonished for it was obvious that they loved her beauty as she came into sight! There was no doubt, but she was blessed with her delightfully raked stem and cruiser stern, crowned and blessed with her two perfectly raked red and black topped funnels, matched by her two tall masts and her green hull and than that sublime yacht-like white superstructure. Everyone looking on was amazed with the T.E.V. Rangatira and her striking appearance, and sure enough the newspapers made a huge fuss about this magnificent ship throughout the country and also about her interiors and her overall facilities.
Captain
W. Martin is seen aboard the Rangatira with his Officers having just arrived
from the
As soon as she was cleared the Rangatira entered dry-dock and she was made ready externally and internally for her Inter-Island Express Service. When she was ready she headed north for Lyttelton the port for the city of Christchurch and then on Wednesday March 4 the Rangatira departed Lyttleton with 350 passengers for her maiden voyage to New Zealand’s Capital City, Wellington where she arrived the next morning “at 7 AM sharp” as the Wellington “The Dominion” reported. They also stated;
“Punctual to the minute, the Union Company’s new
turbo electric steamer Rangatira completed her first run … yesterday
morning when she berthed at
The Rangatira combines size and speed with all the comfort
and a good deal of luxury of present-day overseas liners. She has superb
accommodations for … 600 First Class and 170 Second-Class passengers. A
feature of the First Class quarters is the unusually large number of single and
double berth cabins of which many have bathrooms or shower attached. The
ordinary bathroom accommodation is far in excess of that in the other steamers.
There are a number of double berth cabins-de-luxe, each with bathroom, the size
and furnishings being on a scale associated with large overseas liners. The
Second-Class accommodations is excellent in its appointments. It is in many
respects quite equal to that in the First-Class section. The whole ship is
ventilated on the thermo tank Punkah Louvre system, which supplies fresh air to
every compartment and which every passenger can regulate. There is a reading
lamp to every berth, and every cabin has a washbasin fitted with hot and cold
running water supply. “The Dominion”
The above makes interesting reading from times so long gone, but it provides an interesting picture of the TEV Rangatira back in 1931!
Public Rooms:
First-Class offered two venues for the overnight voyage; located aft on Upper Deck was the spacious Mahogany lined Smoke Room complete with a Bar and this venue as all sections of the ship featured some beautiful timbers and highly polished brass fittings.
Here
we see just a corner of the aft Smoking Room and Bar
The Dining Saloon was superbly panelled in an Oak panelling and fittings and the double portholes had screens to cover them in the evening. The majority of tables were for four, but there were a few for six and some for two. The floor had a non-slip corking finish that looked a little a lino, but it was not, it was of a far superior grade. It did have a large square pattern on it.
The
Dining Saloon looked more restrained, but served excellent food!
Second Class Smoking Room and Dining Room were very similar to the First Class rooms, and were attractive venues but both were finished in a Bird’s-eye Maple panelling that was very pleasant indeed!
The ship had five passenger decks, and both classes besides their lounges and dining venues also had very attractive and spacious vestibules that extended the full width of the ship. In addition the Rangatira provided extensive open deck spaces topside, and her Promenade Deck was covered but open at the sides, but the forepart was screened with heavy plate glass windows, in addition passengers also had the use of the great expanse of Boat Deck that had ample buoyant seats along the walls for obvious reasons. As the ship was completely electric, she was able to power a small town, and everything on board worked by her own power plant. Her lifeboats could have been lowered by her fully electric davits in less than a minute and each boat was fitted with a propeller that was geared for hand-propulsion. Besides all this she had all the up to date safety equipment for that time!
Of course the question is; did her public room’s measure up to the great or even some of the lesser ocean liners. I have to be honest and say, no of course not, for she was ultimately designed to operate a 10½ hour overnight “Ferry” service, thus she offered quality single, two berth and some four berth accommodations in both classes for this voyage, with the majority having private facilities, and there was a pleasant Lounge and a Bar, as well as a good Dining Room that offered good food that the USSCo was well known for!
There was no doubt about it, but the Rangatira became very popular with the public and she was packed more often than not. However, it was said by her captains and officers that she was not an easy ship to steer as it seemed to have something to do with her rudder.
A
painting by the
From
the original painting by Maritime Artist; Wallace Trickett
Her voyages to and from Lyttelton from
The truth is that occasionally a ship forges a
place in the affections of her passengers and thus there is no doubt she became
one of the USSCo’s ships that could claim that special distinction! The
T.E.V. Rangatira was without a doubt one of the most innovative design for her
time and thanks to her there came a number of siblings, including her
subsequent running mate the T.E.V. Hinemoa. However, the record for the fastest
passage made by the T.E.V. Rangatira for the 175 mile (280 km) voyage from
On January 2, 1933 the Rangatira as a
One Class ship undertook a her very first official day excursion from
Wellington to Picton, onboard there were 2,020 passengers, for she was
officially licensed to carry up to 2,300
passengers on day cruises. Passengers could enjoy all the ships facilities and
some had booked a cabin, whilst other used the lounges and enjoyed their meals
in her two dining rooms.
A little later in April on Easter Monday the
Rangatira created speed records for the trips to and from
Troubled Waters:
For those who live in Wellington call the city; the “Cold, Wet and Windy City” and believe me it can be very cold and the winds are really bad times, in fact they are so fierce it can be very difficult to walk upright, and when it rains it simply pours down! It can be a city of extremes’ and the harbour especially its rocky entrance is one of the most dangerous in the world as countless ships have run up on the rocks during many of the Gale-Force Winds during the countless storms experienced there.
The
Rail-Road ferry Aramoana seen in
Rangatira
seen during bad weather days
On February 2, 1936 whilst she was under the
command of Captain W. D. Cameron and having almost eight hundred passengers
aboard, she was heading for
The
superb, ultra modern TEV Wahine had all the technology, yet the
But on this day for the Rangatira the
extremely poor visibility was a major factor and that came with a combination
of strong rain and never ending driving sprays across the bridge masking the
coastline. Therefore, due to the conditions, the Captain made sure that
the Rangatira had slowed down, but yet she still suddenly struck the rocks and
was stuck.
She remained fast for around twenty minutes, after which she was able to reverse herself off the rocks, but it was realised that her bow had filled with water; Captain Cameron slowly manoeuvred her into the heads by taking her stern first into the harbour, but he did this with the assistance of two tugs. Whilst moving, she was continually taking water through the large holes in the bow, but with her propellers being half out of the water by the time she was grounded at Clyde Quay wharf, she looked a very sad sight indeed, for her forward lower passenger decks were awash with water. But thankfully there was no loss of life and no serious injury to anyone on the ship!
The
Rangatira at Clyde Quay wharf in
However, it was discovered that she had
suffered rather extensive damage to her hull thus she would have to enter into
the floating dock at
It was on June 29, 1936 that the TEV Rangatira resumed her duties on the inter-island service until the end of August 1939 as she had been called for the war effort!
World War II:
However it had become obvious that rumours of
war were becoming a reality, thus on September 1, 1939, the Rangatira sailed
from
The day after
As there little to no records, the Rangatira
would have returned to
The Rangatira was sailing into a thick fog
bank whilst following a mine cleared channel, and then she suddenly ran aground
at
Whilst being repaired between December 1940 and February 1941, the entire ship was repainted from funnel tops to waterline in a dull grey war paint. In addition her fore promenade deck plate glass windows were closed in with steel plates, making her now a true full-time wartime trooper!
January 2, 1942 a Section of the B Force
Expansion of the 2nd New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force (85 Officers and 1668
Ordinary Ranks) embarked on the Rangatira and the smaller 4,166-ton
Another trooping voyage recorded took place son after, on January 10, 1942 it was the B Section of B Force Extension of the 2nd New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force (83 Officers and 1459 Ordinary Ranks) who embarked at Auckland on Rangatira, Monowai and the 4,436-ton TSS Wahine (1913 to 1951) and the Port cargo liner the Port Montreal and headed for Fiji, with the Rangatira arriving there just four days later on January 14.
During her wartime days, there was even a
report that she was torpedoed by a Japanese miniature submarine, but the
torpedo slipped just behind her. It was supposed to have happened off Pencarrow
Head that is near the entrance to
Returned to the USSCo:
But, thankfully the Japanese had surrendered and the war was over, thus the HMTS Rangatira was released and in 1946 she was comprehensively refitted with her accommodations and the entire ship upgraded. In addition, she would also become a One-Class Ship and now she would accommodate just 794 passengers in excellent accommodations.
She returned to her regular service and she
was more and more popular as a mode of reaching either the capital of
However in 1947 the 6,152-ton TEV Hinemoa
arrived in
However, the truth was that the glory days for what was the wonderful TEV Rangatira was now slowly coming to an end for in 1963 the brand new and luxuriously appointed Cook Strait Rail-Road Ferry, the G.M.V. Aramoana arrived on the scene and she was a huge success! I certainly recall making a few one day return voyages on her and her lounges and the buffet were very modern and comfortable!
A
postcard of the TEV Maori seen with her new aft Roll on Roll off conversion
Her Final Voyage and Sale
Then whilst she was still partnering TEV
Hinemoa she commenced her very last passenger voyage from Lyttelton to
The still graceful looking T.E.V. Rangatira
departed
Sent
in by one of my supporters, but photographer & owner is unknown
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Inter-Island Express
Service – Epilogue:
With the TEV Rangatira having departed in October 1967 the TEV Hinemoa and Maori had their stern sections converted to make them roll on roll off ferries. But very soon came a brand new ultra modern ship, the 8,944-ton TEV Wahine would arrive on the scene in 1966, and she was hailed as the ultimate USSCo Inter-Island Express Ferry as she arrived in Wellington! In fact she was so well received that soon USSCO ordered a second ship The TEV Rangatira II that would be the largest (and last) ship to be built for the Steamer Express service, but more on her later.
A
Union Steam Ship Co postcard of the modern and sleek TEV Wahine
At 8.30 pm on Tuesday April 9, 1968 Captain Gordon Robertson who is in command of the TEV Wahine receives via the ships radio the following weather forecast from the New Zealand Meteorological Service covering the next 24 hours.
The forecast commences with the words “Storm
warning,” and advises that at 6 pm on 9 April a “Severe
Tropical Depression” was centred about 60 miles east of North Cape (the
northern-most tip of
At 8.43 pm the TEV Wahine departed from the
Inter-Island Terminal at Lyttelton for her regular overnight voyage to
Wednesday April 10, 1968:
Tragically as the Wahine neared
She was hit by a massive blast of the hurricane of unprecedented ferocity. Her radar suddenly failed and she sheared off course to port and the ship simply failed to answer to her helm. At 6.40am her starboard quarter struck the southern end of Barrett Reef, and several minutes later she lost all motive power. Suddenly with the massive waves bouncing her around, she was bounced clear off the Reef and she drifted through Chaffers Passage with her anchors down and she finally came to a stop near Steeple Rock. The wind was gusting by over 100 knots and despite the best efforts a tug that had come to the Wahine assistance, the tug Tapuhi to get a line aboard; it was decided to let her ride out the storm until she could be brought to a safe anchorage.
She remained upright, that was until 1.00 pm when the Wahine commenced to list to starboard, which was due to water having flooded onto her vehicle deck. At 1.20 pm, the order to abandon ship was given. Apart from a few who decided to take their chances by swimming ashore, all passengers and crew were able to get away in lifeboats and life rafts. The ship finally heeled completely over at 2.00 pm, coming to rest on her starboard side with her port side remaining above water.
Alexander Turnbull Library,
Above is a photograph of the Wahine that was
taken the day after the disaster. The storm had now gone and thankfully
Sadly Fifty-One precious people were lost on
that horrid day making it the worst maritime disasters in
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The Last Ever USSCo Inter-Island
Express Ship the 1972 T.E.V. Rangatira:
As I had already stated earlier the last Inter-Island ship to be built for Union Steam Ship Company was the TEV Rangatira, which was also the largest ship to be built for this service. Her keel was laid on April 2, 1970 and she was launched on June 23, 1971 by Lady Blundell.
She was originally scheduled for completion in
November 1971, however as there were continual delays at the builders yards
meaning that the Rangatira was sent from the builder’s in
The
very modern and sleek TEV Rangatira II
The Rangatira arrived in
The Rangatira had a gross tonnage of 9,387 tons and a length of 500.4ft and there was no doubt that this new ship was superbly fitted out with some of the best facilities ever! Her public rooms were spacious, well-designed and featured attractive murals including one much loved large painting of a Maori Chief that had been a feature on the earlier Rangatira. She had a comfortable cafeteria but also a spacious dining saloon, and a large bar. She offered accommodations for 768 passengers and had space for over 200 cars.
Her
lay-out taken from a brochure
When she was ready for her maiden voyage she
was a fully booked ship and she departed from
By this time though, it was apparent that the service required only one ship, therefore the Maori was laid up in Wellington and on the market, the Hinemoa had already been sold and gone.
Sadly due to the growth in air travel and
competition from the very popular Rail Ferries between Picton and
In a move to reduce costs, the passenger
accommodation on two decks was closed down during the off-season, reducing the
capacity to just 530. With extensions to the charter, Rangatira remained in
service until when she arrived in
Since entering service, she had made the
crossing of Cook Strait 2,096 times, carried a total of 832,260 passengers and
139,656 vehicles. Then on Friday 17 September, the very last of the Union Steam
Ship Companies Inter-Island Express Ships, the TEV Rangatira departed
TEV Rangatira departed
The
Rangatira seen here at
Photographer
is unknown – Please see the photo notes at bottom of the page
She remained there until July 1981. As the
charter had then completed she returned to
However on May 15, 1982 she was chartered to
the British Ministry of Defence to be used as an accommodation/barracks ship at
Port Stanley in the
The
TEV Rangatira is seen at
I am told that
this photograph was by & © Jason Willis-Richards
The
TEV Rangatira has been in the
Finally the Union Steam Ship Company decided
to sell her rather than retain her for charter purposes, and she was sold in
1986 to the Greek, P.J. Marangopoulos who would use her as a ferry in the
On November 3, 1986 the TEV Queen M departed
Then on September 8, 1987 the Queen M was sold
to Searoyal Ferries Ltd, and she returned to her previous service and continued
to operate until 1990, when she was sold to Alimar Shipping Co who renamed her Carlo
R. However, she sees to have remained laid up for some time, and the only
time she actually returned to active service was as just for several months
from June to August 1995 when she operated between Bari (South-East Italy) and
Igoumenitsa (North-West Greece). However, on August 16, 1995 she arrived at
The Carlo R remained laid up for just over five
years until she was sold at auction to the Oberon Cruise Line in October 2001
and Oberon gave her a rather pretentious name TEV Alexander The Great!
She was taken under tow to the
The SS Alexander The Great is seen in lay-up
condition at Bijela around 2003
Photograph by & © Dr. H.
Harrington
Farewell to those old Days:
With this ship came a sad end to an Old and a Long Tradition of the Union Steam Ship Company “Inter-Island Express Services” and that is a tragedy id you really think about it, for hundreds of thousands have sailed on these many ships and have countless happy memories of their voyages, as well as the rough days at sea, but on the whole, the ships reached port safely, bar one sad ship the TEV Wahine, which will always be remembered! But, The Rangatira of 1931 is in a way, one of the most loved and special ships ever on the service, and we say Goodbye!
Reuben Goossens.
****************************************
Built: 1930
by Vickers Armstrong Ltd,
Launched: April
16, 1931 by Lady Wilford.
Delivery voyage: September
8, 1931.
Official Maiden voyage: November
3, 1931, Lyttelton to
Official Number: 157646.
Tonnage: 6,152
GRT (Gross Registered Tons).
Length: 419ft
- 127.71m.
Breadth: 58ft
- 17.67m.
Draught: 17ft
- 5.18m.
Engine & Power: Six
oil fired boilers generating steam at 400 pounds per square inch at a
temperature of 725° Fahrenheit. Turbo-electric engines with six water
tube boilers forced draught of 13,000 BHP, 446psi.
. Two turbine driven alternators, each
supplying 5,120 Kw at 3,150 volts to two double-unit 6,500 horsepower electric
motors at 220 revolutions per minute, directly coupled to the propeller shafts.
Screws: Two.
Speed: 22
knots service speed, 23.9 knots maximum. By switching the polarity of the motors
she could change from 22 knots ahead to 17 knots astern within five minutes.
Passengers: 600
First-Class, 170 Second-Class and 186 seated passengers if required.
. One-Class
after her 1946 refit.
Crew: 112.
T.E.V.
Rangatira
The
beautiful T.E.V. Rangatira seen off treacherous Pencarrow rocks at the entrance
of
But
she is a radiant beauty that was loved by ALL who sailed on her for well over
30 years!
Also view Other USSCo
Passenger Ships online
SS Waitaki
TSS Monowai
/
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