THE HINEMOA

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25090, 23 January 1947, Page 8

THE HINEMOA

DUE AT WELLINGTON ON SUNDAY DETAILS OF MODERN EQUIPMENT Advice has Deen received by the Union oteam Snip Company that me nuiemoa, wmcn was buiu ui the yards oi Messrs viewers Armstrong, Ltd., at oarrow-in-x urness, nas leii xreiuantie on me nna* stage ox ner maiden vuj**ge irom LrreenvCxk to Wellington. Sne ia uue at Wellington next Sunday. ine master ox me new’ vessel, uaptain a. w. cohms, w’ho recently commanded the xtangatira, toon charge at Greenock on December 17 at the lormai nanuing over to the owners on the conclusion ot the performance trials carried out by the builders. With Captain Coilins in the Hinemoa are several officers who aiso served in the Rangatira, including the chief engineer (Mr J. U. Hamilton), the chief officer (ivir R. Blampied), the chief steward iMr F. G. Stafford), and the radio officer (Mr Lindsay). Another New Zealander, Dr. I. H. McLean, who recently relinquished his research work at St. Mary’s Hospital, London, to spend some months in the Dominion is tne ship’s surgeon. The Hinemoa has the distinction of being the first passenger vessel under construction in the United Kingdom since the outbreak of the war. In February, 1945, the Admiralty cancelled at short notice the reservation of a berth in the Barrow-in-Furness snip-building yards, and the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand, Ltd., was the only shipping company in the British Commonwealth ready and willing to take the berth without notice, plans of a new vessel destined for the Wellington-Lyttelton service having been drawn in 1939 and tenders for building having been called just before the war broke out, when they had to be cancelled. Complete plans for the Hinemoa had been prepared in Wellington and sent to London and were brought up-to-date from time to time. But for this preparedness, the facilities the Hinemoa will provide for the New Zealand public would not have been available for two or probably three years yet, for shipyard berths available subsequently, priority was granted to the requirements of owners who suffered the heaviest war losses, these being English companies. Apart from .ne immediate decision required as to the building of the vessel at so greatly increased a cost the company, had to make a wide range of decisions in fixing the type of ship, dimensions, lines, fuel and fresh water capacities, type and number of lifeboats, type of machinery, speed, steering and other auxiliary machinery, bow rudder, shafts, passenger capacity, size of cabins and furnishings. Dumber of holds cargo capacity, and capacity for cars. Because of the late delivery of essential materials, the completion of the vessel was delayed considerably, and she will not begin running in the inter-island service until February 10. The Hinemoa will have only one funnel The actual length and breadth of the Hinemoa and the Rangatira will be the same. The ."memoa’s gross tonnage will be about 6900 tons, or 750 tons more than the Rangatira. length being 400 feet, breadth 58 feet, and loaded draught about 17 feet. Aids to Navigation Like the Rangatira, the Wahine. and the Maori, the Hinemoa will have a bow rudder for quick manoeuvring. Other aids to navigation will be radar equipment, echo-sounding equipment: direction finders, and radio installation, all these oeing designed according to the most modern technical practice. She will also have a radio-tele-phone installation by which passengers may communicate from the ship with any telephone in New Zealand, and a public address system has been supplied. Eight -metal lifeboats each capable’ of carrying 99 persons, two with room for 40 persons, and eight life-rafts which will each support 20 persons are part of the equipment. A hot and cold water system is installed in every cabin, and each berth has a reading light. Passenger accommodation in the Hinemoa has been laid out for one class only, the fares being graded from the present second-class rate upwards, according to size of cabin, number of berths, and position. When the Hinemoa enters the service, the Rangatira will also be run as a one-class ship. The new vessel is equipped with turbo-electric propelling machinery supplied by the British ThomsonHouston Company. Ltd., Rugby, consisting principally of two separate turbo-alternators, each with its own condensing plant and auxiliaries, two double-unit svnchronous motors which are coupled direct to the twin propeller shafts, and a contactor cubicle to control the power from the alternators to the propulsion motors. The power generated by the Hinemoa would be sufficient to supply the electrical requirements of a couple of thriying New Zea’and towns, say, Napier and New Plymouth, together.