H.M.S. TORCH

Otago Witness, Issue 3314, 19 September 1917, Page 55

H.M.S. TORCH

TAKEN OVER BY THE GOVERNMENT. (From Oub Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, September 14. There is a possibility that H.M.S. Torch, one of the oldest ships in tho Royal Navy, may be patched up again and made sound enough to have an extended period of usefulness. It is a very long time since the Torch could be termed a fighting ship; indeed, nearly 10 years ago there was a little fuss at the Admiralty when some members of tho House of Commons found out that tho ship had been sent to sea in an unseaworthy condition. That affair and also the ship were patched up, and in the intervening years the Torch has been cruising about among the coral reefs of the Pacific. When the war broke out the Torch took cover in Wellington Harbour, and has been tied up there over, since. In the House to-day Mr Hindmarsh asked whether there was any proposal to put the ship to another use. Tho Hon. Mr Russell said the 'ship had been taken over by the New Zealand Government, and had been renamed "Rama," the Maori name for "Torch." Tho proposal was that the vessel should be used in place of the Hinemoa, _ which, by reason of ago, ought to be laid aside. A report by the department stated that it would require £IO,OOO to change the Rama from her nresent condition and make her suitable to replace the Hinemoa. Mr Poole: It wiU bo money thrown away—enough to buy a new ship. Mr Russell said that as £IO.OOO had been on the Estimates for the purpose of buying a vessel as a substit'ite for the Hinemoa, it was proposed to'ask the Fjnance Minister to agree that this vote bo transferred to mako the alterations to the Rama, and to fit her for the coastal services done by that Hinemoa. Mr Poole: A waste of money.

Mr Russell: The honourable member may bo an oxpert. but the Government is likely to givo consideration to the advico of tho experts who are paid by the Government for their services.