WAR SERVICE ENDED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25852, 24 May 1945, Page 4

WAR SERVICE ENDED

RETURN OF COASTAL SHIP THREE YEARS WITH AMERICAN NAVY (P.A.) AUCKLAND, May 23. After nearly three years in the Pacific under the flag of the United States Navy, the Richardson' Line motor ship Kopara is- being returned to her owners. She is expected to be in commission in the run between Auckland. Napier, Wellington, and Lyttelton by the end of next week. Well war-worn after many voyages in the islands where she saw action, the 679-ton Kopara was some time ago handed back to the Marine Department, which is restoring the ship to her original condition, a job that is now nearly completed.

One of several small New Zealand vessels needed by the United States forces in the Solomons and other parts of the Pacific, the Kopara went on her first war mission with her original New Zealand crew. That voyage lasted two months, and during it the little ship was in action. On her later voyages in the war zones she was manned by United States naval personnel.

The Kopara is a modern twin-screw cargo ship and was built in 1938. Her cruiser stern, funnel over oil-burning engines aft. and generally smart lines, were well-known until early in the war on the run between Auckland, Gisborne, Napier, and East Coast bays.