REPAIRS TO THE RANGATIRA

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21743, 27 March 1936, Page 21

REPAIRS TO THE RANGATIRA

♦ STEADY PROGRESS MADE

WORK AT FLOATING DOCK AND SHOPS

Repairs are progressing steadily at the Jubilee floating dock, Wellington, on the inter-island steamer express, Rangatira, which was holed when she struck a rock at the entrance to Wei* llngton Harbour on the. morning of February 2. The company carrying out the work has many more than 100 men engaged either bn the ship or at the shops in Evans Hay, where most of the steelwork is being fabricated. ■ ■■ Already a considerable lenfih of the ship’s keelson has bean replaced by new steel, and the remaining sections to the ships forefoot will probably‘be riveted in during the next few days,The lower curved part of the stem bar which was bent and fractured when the shltt Struck thg-ropkg, was removed to the shop for repairs and will probably be replaced in position this week. The keelson, or centreline girder of the shin, is of massive proportions, having a depth of about three feet. , . A-Noisy Task . , Repair work bn the ship is being carried on simultaneously at, several parts of the hull.- and the high steel wails of the floating dock resound all day to the deafening rattle of .hydraulic riveting machines. ;‘The gloomy re* eesses under theshle’s bottom are lighted up by the blinding glare of the oxy-aeetyiene. torches which burn out rivets and cut stout Steel plates as if - they were:o£,putty t -: •' , There are practically -no' straight lines In the form of the' Rangatifa’s hull, and the floors and frames and plates are of ever-varying shapes and curves, This necessitates the Stakingoff" of many templates in wood And many men are engaged in cutting out and making these templates. or patterns of floors, frames, and platesTo the required shaoes and curves; The templates then go to .the engineering shop ip Ivans Bay, xvhere the atcel work is the required pattern. The sections of floors arid frames with rivet-holes drilled are bolted into place In the ship's structure and subsequently "faired" before being Anally , riveted in. , . ; . Speed and Efficiency

At present much of the ship’s forefront is missing and her side, is com* pletely open for a considerable length on the port side forward, the lower part of her No. 1 hold being practically a large cavern. To the uninitiated the work of repairs appears to be very far from completion: but it is being carried on in a systematic fashion and during the next. fortnight or three weeks a vast change will have, been wrought. Meanwhile the ship is being supoorted forward by numerous stout hardwood timber shores. Much of the steel required for this big repair iqb has been supplied from stocks in the Dominion. Material is also being obtained .from the Broken mu Proprietary works In Newcastle, New .South Wales. Many of the steel shellplates required are of great slab and up to SO feet in length, and it is understood that several have been ordered from England and are now on the way to New Zealand.