RED AND BLACK.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 237, 7 October 1933, Page 9 (Supplement)

RED AND BLACK.

THE UNION LINE. PIONEERS OF THE FEEET. THE WONDERFUL ROTOM AH AX A. Xo. II.) '* It was in tlie era of high hats and crinoline bustles that the red and black funnels of the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand, Limited, first puffed their way up and down the coast. That was in 1875, when the Harbour Steam Packet Company, formed by Mr. James Mills, lost its identity in the new company. — In those childhood days of the redfunnelled fleet the company had but three steamers in service—the Bruce (335 tons), the Beautiful Star (170 tons) and the Maori (174 tons). At the time that the Union Company was formed two brand new steamers, ordered by Mr, "Mills in the previous year from W. Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton, Scotland, were on their way to New Zealand. The new steamers were the Hawea (721 tons) and the Taupo (720 tons). Looked at through present-day eyes they were small and unpretentious enough, but way back in '75 they were regarded as little less than wonder ships, and in some quartern it was avowed that they were too palatini for the job. Across the Tasman. The year 1877 saw the company enter the trajis-Tasman trade. The Rotorua, a new vessel of nearly 1000 tons, was put into the Sydney service to run in conjunction with the Wakatipu (1700 tons), a steamer which was later I acquired by the Union Company. The Rotorua was the first vessel actually ordered by and built for the, company. In the following year came the purchase of Messrs. MeMeckan, Blackwood and Co.'s intercolonial fleet of four vessels engaged in the Mclboiirnc-Xew Zealand trade, the Union Company thus securing the control of the Tasman. In the second year of its existence the Union Company had purchased the Taiaroa from the Albion Company, and had sent her into the Sydnev-Xoumea service, so that in 1878 it was interested in three distinct trades —coastal, transTasman and Island. Progress in the next few years was phenomenal. The steamers Hawea and Taupo, which a couple of years earlier had been regarded as wonder ships, were completely eclipsed by those which followed them. The policy of the company was always to look ahead. In the space of a few years a considerable amount of new tonnage was ordered from Great Britain. To detail the growth of the company's fleet in these thriving years would

occupy' Unnecessary space. It will lie sufficient to say tliat live years after its

formation the company owned 710 fewe than 17 vessels—Maori, Beautiful Star Hawea, Ladybird, Rotorua, Wanaka I Taiaroa, Wakatipu, Ringarooma, Ara wata, Tararua, Albion, Waitaki, Roto mahana, To Anaii, Penguin and Hero Had it not been for several cnrh casualties the licet would have bec'i even larger. The First Union "Flyer." In the colourful history of the company the name of the Rotoniahaiia looms large. _ This Vessel was launched by Denny in 1879 and was the first merchant ship built of mild fiteel. In the 40 years that she was in commission she proved herself a remarkable vessel, and is worthy of more than passing mention. Her gross tonnage was 1777 and her coinpound engines developed 2000 horse power. On her trials she exceeded 15 knots, but in service she frequently improved on that figure—a splendid performance for a ship of her size and power. The claim that she was the fastest vessel in the Southern Hemisphere was not disputed.

The Rotomahana sported a clipper bow and carried a spread of sail 011 her foremast. Her funnel was set well forward and her graceful lines combined with her other attractive features to make her one of the prettiest flyers ever to show the Union flag. She commenced running in the Sydney-New Zealand-Melbourne service in 1880. and as a new ship carried many New Zealanders to and from the Sydney Intercolonial Exhibition. Until 1899 the steamer made regular crossings of the Tasman.

In Lis "Pacific Steamers" Will Lawson mentions that when the Rotomahana was reeling oft her best speed she struck a peculiar "gait." From stem to stern the whole ship would throb and hum, though not unpleasantly, and the flag halyards would flick against the mainmast in perfect rhythm. To passengers below it seemed as if a sailor was dancing on deck, and it is 011 record that one night an old lady sent a message to the skipper requesting him to stop the men dancing above her head! The Golden Greyhound. In the years that the Rotomahana was at her best a golden greyhound was carried by the fastest vessel in the Union Company's fleet, and for a long time this ♦nblem of speed had its hc./ie on the Rotomahana's foremast. It may be mentioned that, as the company's 'flyer, the Rotomahana was always kept in perfect shape. In the early 'nineties she was placed in the Melbourne-Launceston servico to compete against the HuddartParker Co.'s 16-knot Coogee. In 1892 the Australian and New Zealand Steamship Company's steamers Miowera and Warrimoo appeared in the trans-Tasman trade and the Rotomahana was jriven the job of competing against the Warrimoo. The Mararoa, later to become a familiar vessel in the Wellington-Lyttclton ferry service, was the Rotomahana's partner in tile fight, and although the opposition vessels were ships.of 3i>oo tons and were fitted with triple expansion engines, the rod fumiellers held their own. When the bigger ships withdrew from the service the Rotomahana still carried the golden grev bound proudly at her foremast.

For a lengthy pcriorl the TJotomahana 'ran in the ' Wcllington-Lyttelton ferry service.' While thiis engaged tlie steamer, in February, 1904, in tlie twenty-fifth year of her remarkable life, cut out the distance between the two ports in just over ten and a half hours, a record which was broken a month later by the Manuka, a new and imicli larger ship. Sold for £1700. With fhe arrival from Home of the turbine ferry Maori, the Rotoruahana wag no longer required for the Cook Straits service and in 1908 she was transferred to the Mclbournc-Launceston run. Here she continued to do faithful service for 7iiany more years until she was laid up. The old vessel's end came in 192.} when she was sold to shipbreakers for £1700. Although in her declining years, the Tiotomahanfl, was ungraciously referred to as the "Rotten Banana," she will ever hold a warm spot in the hearts of the many fine seamen who knew her and marvelled at the wondrous turn of speed that she carried in her engines. (To be continued.) * <