SHIPPING LOSSES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21922, 17 January 1946, Page 4

SHIPPING LOSSES

S.S. AND A. VESSELS REPLACEMENT PLAN REFRIGERATED CARGO (P.A.) WELLINGTON, Jan. 17. The motor liner Empire Grace, which was built during the war, has been renamed the Wairangi, according to advice received by the Shaw, Savill and Albion Company from its head office in London. The first ship of that name was sunk in the Malta convoy in August, 1942 Owing to the heavy losses of refrigerated cargo ships during the war, the British Ministry of War Transport found it necessary to build new tonnage of that class. Accordingly, the Shaw Savill and Albion Company and other lines engaged in the New Zealand trade were able to obtain vessels embodying the specifications of the tonnage previously built for them and fulfilling the special and exacting requirements of the refrigerated cargo service.

Among these ships were the Empire Hope and the Empire Grace built to Shaw Savill and Albion specifications bv Messrs. Harland and Wolff, Limited, Belfast. The Empire Grace, which was built in 1942, is a motor liner of 13.473 tons gross, measuring 540 leet in length. She has a cargo capacity of approximately 700,000 cubic feel, of which 500.000 cubic feet is insulated for the stowage of refrigerated cargo. The ship also has accommodation for 100 passengers. Some of tlic War Losses Included in the war losses cf the Shaw Savill and Albion fleet were five of its largest and fastest motor ships, namely the Waiotira (12,823 tons), the Waiwera (12,438 tons), the Wairangi (12,438 tons), the Waimarama (12.843 tons), and the Empire Hope (13,850 tons). The three last-mentioned ships were sunk in the historic Malta convoy in August, 1942. Of the 14 ships in that convoy when it left Gibraltar only five arrived in Malta, three of these being damaged. At the time of her sinking the first Wairangi was commanded by Captain Gordon, now Sir Henry Gordon, commander of the Dominion Monarch. The Waiwera, which was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic on June 29, 1942, has since been replaced by the third ship of that name in the company’s fleet. This is a motor liner of 12,028 tons gross, built in 1944 by Messrs. Harland and Wolff, Belfast.