STEAMERS’ END

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19340, 2 June 1937, Page 3

STEAMERS’ END

RARAWA AND NGAPUHI BOTH TO BE SCRAPPED Two of New Zealand’s best-known coastal steamers, the Rarawa and the Ngapuhi, shortly will be. scrapped. This decision, which will sever the last links with the former thriving Onehunga-New Plymouth passenger trade was announced by Sir Ernest Davis, chairman of directors, at the annual meeting of the Northern Steamship t'ompany. Limited, in 'Auckland. Built specially for the West Coast passenger service, the Rarawa and ♦fgaptthi gained a, splendid tradition for their work and for more than 7)0 years formed the 'principal means ol cope mnniration between Auckland and Taranaki. The Rarawa, a twin-screw steamer of 1077 tons, built in Dundee in 1903 by Gburlay Brothers ihas been moored off Shoal Hay since 1929, and the Ngapuhi, a steamer of 703 tons, built in Dundee in 1900. was taken out of commission a year later.

Few vessels on the New Zealand coast served longer on one run that the llarawa, which was engaged for about 26 years in the Oncliunga-N'cw Plymouth trade. Replacing the Ngapuhi, which had been on the service for three years, the llarawa was commissioned in 1933 and made three trips weekly until the opening of the main trunk railway in 1900, after which she ran only twice a week.

The increased use of motor transport affected the West Coast service in later years. The llarawa proved too large for the diminishing number of sea travellers and in 1929 she was taken to Auckland and replaced by the Ngapuhi, which had been engaged on East Coast services. A year later, however, the Northern Company decided to withdraw from that passenger trade altogether, and the Ngapuhi was replaced by the cargo motor-vessel llnuturu, of 296 tons, which is still in the service.