VETERAN STEAMER

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 226, 21 June 1935, Page 8

VETERAN STEAMER

Loongana Reported Sold OONAH’S LONG CAREER Tasmanian Steamers Proprietary, Ltd., report the sale to Eastern buyers of their steamers Loongana and Oonah. states the Sydney “Daily Commercial News and Shipping List.” which says the former ship has been sold for .use in a coastal service in the Far East. The head office of the Union Steam Ship Company of N.Z., Ltd., however, has had no advice of the reported sale of the Loongana. The Oonah, which has been sold to Japanese shipbreakers, will tow the Maheno, also sold for scrapping, from Sydney to Japan. The Loongana is a triple-screw turbine steamer of 2448 tons gross register, 300 feet in length and 43 feet in breadth, built in 1904 by AV. Denny and Brothers at Dumbarton for the Union Steam Ship Company. Famous as the first turbine-driven steamer to cross the “line” for service in the Southern Hemisphere, the Loongana was specially designed for the Melbourne-Laun-ceston passenger service, in which she replaced the Pateena. A speedy ship of over 19 knots, the Loongana had a long and successful career in that trade, which was taken over in 1922 by Tasmanian Steamers Proprietary, Ltd. The Loongana was replaced by the-Nairana, 3042 tons, built in 1917, after the completion of the latter’s war service, and afterward ran in'the Melbourne-Burnie trade. Recently the new steamer Taroona, 4200 tons, took up the Melbourne-: Launceston running.

The Oonah, of 1758 tons, familiarly known as the “Old Lady of Bass Strait.” is a very remarkable ship. Built in 1888 by A. and J. Inglis at Glasgow for the Sydney-Hobart trade of the old

Tastnanian Steam Navigation Company, she quickly became known for her speed and appointments. Until the Talune, the last ship constructed for that company, came out in 1890, the Oonah was the flagship of the Tasmanian Company, which was shortly afterward taken over by the Union Steam ’Ship Company. The Oonah has completed 47 years of service in the Tasmanian trade and is still as “sound as a bell.” Her passing will be regretted by many.-especially engineers, who have served in her.

The Oonah nearly ended her career on August 19, 1925. when she was badly damaged and almost sank at the mouth of the River Yarra with Yhe Howard Smith steamer Cooma.