A "Pocket Queen Mary"

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22540, 3 October 1936, Page 9 (Supplement)

A "Pocket Queen Mary"

jQESCRIBED by her builders as the most beautifullyappointed vessel of her tonnage in the world to-day, the new liner, the Awatea, completed her first transTasman round trip this week, returning to Auckland last Monday. In the-afternoon she was open to tthe public for inspection, and hundreds of Aucklanders who had been looking forward eagerly to her return were able to view for themselves the beautiful appointments and modern equipment of this " luxury liner." She has been termed " a pocket Queen Mary " and, as she cost about £1,000,000 to build and is fitted with the very latest scientific appliances and equipment in addition to her luxurious accommodation, the claim to the title is probably well-founded. A complete tour of inspection of the seven decks of the Awatea took the best part of the afternoon of her first visit to Auckland. There was so much to see and admire that it is difficult to remember everjr detail of the inspection, but perhaps most impressive of all was the halfhour spent on the navigating deck and in the rooms containing the amazingly-complicated gear and electrical appliances that control the life of the ship in every department. The fire-detection system, by which the faintest whiff of smoke in any one of the holds would immediately convey a warning, is one of the greatest marvels of the ship; no less complete is its fire-fighting apparatus, which includes a system of piping throughout the ship, with automatic sprinklers every I 4ft. apart. The radio-telephone and ship's telephone services, the air-cool'.ng and centralheating apparatus, ventilating equipment, steering gear, direction-finding and various safety appliances and boatlaunching devices, are a marvel of modern ingenuity and constitute a triumph of engineering skill. On the long voyage from Glasgojv the gyro-compass was used and, except for entering and leaving ports, and passing through the Panama Canal, there was no man at the wh_eel. After leaving Auckland on her first trip across

WE VISIT THE AWATEA

the Tasman, the automatic steering device was again used and s\ man only took the wheel as the Awatea entered Sydney Harbour. As we passed from one feature to another, listening all the time to the lucid explanations of the officer conducting our party, the thought uppermost in mind wan: " Nothing could possibly happen to a ship like this!" Humanly speaking, nothing could. It is ever the unknown equation that defeats human genius. But the Awatea, as she stands, represents man's triumph of preparedness for every sea-going emergency that could possibly arise—and man can do no more than anticipate and prepare I A feature of the wonderfully comfortable, even luxurious, appointments of the Awatea is the provision of telephones in each cabin, thermos flasks for individual use, ice water containers at numerous points on every deck and a small regiment of clocks, no fewer than 66 ticking away the momenta in their allotted places, each one controlled by a master clock. A gymnasium, containing all kinds of athletic and muscle-stretching equipment, a. model horse for riding exercise, a skiff for rowing, a punching ball, bars and rings and what-not," should help pasiiengers to keep trim and fit, while on one of the upper decks a good-sized bathing tank will lure the hardy ones to a salty header when the Tasman breezes become a iihade too sultry I There is beauty and grace ill every lino of the Awatea, in her lovely wood ganelled walls, in her bright and novel decorations, several of which were designed by the artist responsible for the Queen Mary's paintings, and, when one remembers that this fine ship is capable of a speed exceeded by only two other liners in the British Empire, the Queen Mary and the Empress of Britain, we may fsel proud of the enterprise of the company which has'placed in New Zealand and Australian waters a ship which even among the wonder-ships of the day can hold her own for beauty, comfort and speed. " Echtor v