User:Johnragla/Early steamships of New Zealand

From 1851 a growing number of steamships served New Zealand. Generally they were in very small fleets, until larger companies started to dominate shipping, such as Anchor Shipping and its forerunners from 1862, Union Steam Ship from 1875 and Northern Steamship (NSS) from 1881. The first Register of Australian and New Zealand Shipping was published in 1874, by which time there were 421 ships in New Zealand, registered at these ports -

Devonport shipbuilders
The first shipbuilder, Alex Alison & Sons, moved to Flagstaff in 1852 from Mechanics Bay, which was undergoing reclamation. Other boatbuilders included George Beddoes (1858), the Holmes Brothers (1863), Sims & Brown, Henry Niccol & Son (1864), Charles Bailey snr (1876), Robert Logan snr (1878) and Le Huquet (1918).

George Beddoes shipbuilder
George Beddoes began shipbuilding at Torpedo Bay in 1858, and in 1859 he was joined in this enterprise by the Holmes brothers. In 1863, however, the Beddoes-Holmes partnership broke up, and the Holmes brothers moved to the bottom of Victoria Road where they built a slipway adjacent to Windsor Reserve. They built the Flagstaff Hotel in 1864 at the bottom of Victoria Road and set up ferry services from Victoria wharf. However, Thomas Duder, signal master and settler, and William Cobley, who had made money in the goldrush, were determined that Lake (Church) Road should remain the centre. Thomas Duder leased part of Lot 18A to George Beddoes for the Masonic Hotel, designed by Richard Keals and opened in September 1866. The Holmes Brothers‟ ferry service, using the Enterprise from the Victoria wharf, was successful. In 1866, Beddoes approached the harbour board with the proposition to build a wharf at the end of Lake Road opposite the Masonic Hotel, and offered to pay half the cost. Holmes Bros applied to the Superintendent of the Provincial Council for a 3-year monopoly for their ferry in November 1866. In April 1869 Auckland & North Shore Steam Ferry Company, headed by William Cobley, was inaugurated with the ship Lallah Rookh. Holmes Bros countered by running horse buses to and from Victoria wharf free of charge. William Cobley then offered free ferry trips for Devonport residents. In 1870 Cobley sold the ferry to the Holmes brothers. Devonport Steam Ferry Company started in 1885.

William Holmes shipbuilder - 1900
William Holmes travelled to New Zealand around 1850. His sons, James, John and William settled in Devonport and won a government tender to run a Devonport-Auckland ferry as Waitemata Steam Ferry Company. When the company went bankrupt in 1867, they renamed the Waitemata, Enterprise 2, established a new company, North Shore Steam Ferry Company, and continued their business. Flagstaff private hotel was built and they built boats and ran the ferry until well into the 20th century. In 1893 the steam yacht Clyde was built for Fiji. William Holmes died on 5 August 1900, aged 72. He left a wife, Ann Holmes. William Holmes junior started shipbuilding in about 1877.

Coastal Steamers 1851-74
Money from the New Zealand Company's original sales of land in Nelson was put into the Nelson Trust Fund for use, among other things, in promoting steam navigation.

Until 1851 coastal trade had been entirely in sailing ships. By the 1860s inter-provincial mail services were being run by Intercolonial Royal Mail Steam Packet Co. (IRMSP), McMeekan & Blackwood and the New Zealand Steam Navigation Company (NZSN). McMeckan,  Blackwood started a Melbourne-Port Chalmers service in 1859. In 1863 the firm was floated as Adelaide, Melbourne & Otago Steam Navigation Company, with Aldinga, Alhambra and Omeo  plied  between  Auckland  and  Melbourne  and  Sydney, but  on  the  expiry  of  the  contract,  in  1865,  the  vessels were  withdrawn. NZSN formed in 1863, when Wellington Steamship Company was liquidated and refloated as NZSN, whose initial fleet was Queen, Ladybird, Rangatira and Ahuriri.

Z. C. Pearson & Coleman & Co. had Australia-New Zealand mail contracts, until they formed IRMSP, which got a 10 year subsidy of £24,000 a year, using the 9 knot steamers Prince Alfred Lord  Worsley, Lord  Ashley and Airedale. Prince Alfred started the service on 13 September 1858. Also in 1858, Australasian Steam Navigation (ASN) got a contract with the Governments of Victoria and Wellington for a monthly Melbourne-Wellington mail steamer. They used Wonga Wonga and then Boomerang. On 23  August  1859 Boomerang sailed from Wellington for the last time and the routes became Sydney-Auckland-Napier and Sydney-Nelson-Wellington-Lyttelton-Port  Chalmers.

This quote from American traveller and writer, Anthony Trollope, sums up the unreliable nature of shipping, even as late as 1871 -"As in Australia, so in New Zealand, locomotion is effected chiefly by means of coasting steamers. The boat in which we had come from Melbourne to The Bluff, would pass in its usual course up the eastern coast, touching at Port Chalmers, the port for Dunedin; at Lyttelton, the port for Christchurch; at Wellington, the capital, which lies at the extreme southern point of the Northern Island, through Cook's Strait which divides the two islands to Nelson, and down the western coast of the Middle Island to Greymouth and Hokatika, and from that place back to Melbourne. This is done every fortnight, and in the alternate weeks another steamer takes the reverse course, reaching Hokatika direct from Melbourne, making its way round to The Bluffs, and returning thence to its home at Melbourne. There are also smaller boats plying occasionally from port to port, and in this way the New Zealanders travel from one province to another; but of all the conveyances with which I have had dealings, these New Zealand steamboats are the most regularly irregular, and heart-breaking. If a would-be traveller should be informed that steamboats would start from a certain port to another, one on the 1st and another on the 15th of the month, his safest calculation would probably be to make his arrangements for the 8th. Of course travelling by sea cannot be made as certain as that by land, and equally of course boats which depend for their maintenance chiefly on freight must be dependent on the incidents to which freight is liable. I make no complaint; not even on the score that I never could be at any place at the same time with my clothes. I used to be unhappy, but accepted my misfortunes as a part of the necessity of the position. But it is right to say that travelling in New Zealand was uncomfortable. We could not carry our portmanteaus overland, and therefore trusted them to the steamers with copious addresses, with many injunctions to persons who naturally were not quite so strongly interested in the matter as we were ourselves. After a long and painful separation we and our luggage did come together again; but there was much of intermediate suffering."These are some of the coastal steamships to 1874 - {| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" !Ship !Built !Builder !grt !hp !Drive !Certificate !Engines. !Years in coastal trade and notes.
 * Ahuriri
 * 1866
 * Lawrie & Co., Whiteinch, Glasgow
 * 130
 * 50
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Low pressure

1864-71 Ahuriri
Launched 16 February 1864 for Hawkes Bay Steam Navigation Co.

She arrived at Napier from Glasgow on 23 August 1864. length 127 ft., 21ft. broad and depth of hold 9ft. 6 inches. accommodation for 20 chief cabin passengers and 16 second class. steam winch of 3hp lifting 4 tons. direct acting engines by Blackwood & Gordon. with Silver's patent governors. The boiler is tubular, and the consumption of 2 1/2 tons of coal per day.

Hit a rock off Waikouaiti and sank on 22 November 1871. All 90 passengers and crew reached the shore in lifeboats.

In 1864 she served Onehunga, Raglan, Taranaki, Wanganui and Wellington.

In 1865 NZSN had screw steamers (Taranaki, Wellington, Ladybird, Rangatira, Queen, Ahuriri, Wonga Wonga, Stormbird) running between Auckland, Onehunga, Napier, Castlepoint, Raglan, New Plymouth, Whanganui, Port Waikato, Nelson, Hokitika, Picton, Lyttelton, Dunedin, and Wellington.

Mr. G. Hunter was chairman. Directors were George Crawford, J. Dransfield, W. Lyon, W. M. Bannatyne, E. Pearce, W. B. Rhodes, W. Waring Taylor, G. H. Vennell, and G. Moore. Manager was R. J. Duncan.
 * Airedale
 * 1857
 * Richardson Duck & Co, Stockton-on-Tees
 * 286
 * 60
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Low pressure

1859-71 Airedale
She was timed at 11.5 knot and initially used as a yacht for the Earl of Cardigan in the Mediterranean, having been launched on 3 November 1857. Airedale arrived at Nelson from London on 3 August 1859. She was the smallest IRMSP ship,

200 ft long, 25 ft wide x 13.5 ft deep, with a raised 80 ft quarter deck, and designed for carrying railway engines in the Mediterranean. She served New Plymouth, Wellington, Nelson, Hokitika, Bluff and Onehunga. In that work she was involved in the First Taranaki War, when, in March 1860, she moved soldiers of the 65th Regiment to Waitara and later evacuated 109 settlers to Nelson.

She hit a reef on 14 February 1871, when nearing New Plymouth from Onehunga. 20 passengers and 10 crew got ashore in boats, as did mail from England and later also her engines. Airedale Reef is still shown on maps and remnants of the ship can be seen at low tide.
 * Albion
 * 1863
 * Scott & Co., Greenock Cartsdyke East
 * 452
 * 140
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Low pressure

1866-83 Albion
24/12/1863 launch for Albion Shipping Co, (Robert Henderson & James Galbraith managers) Glasgow registered 11/02/1864 Iron Steamer 668 grt 806grt, 218.3 ft x 27.2 ft x 15.5 ft Simple 2cyl (44 x 29in) 180nhp engine by Greenock Foundry Company 1-screw.

17/01/1866 Otago Steam Navigation Co, Dunedin.

1871 McMeckan & Blackwood (Blue Emu Line), Melbourne - reg Melbourne

1878 Union Steamship Co of New Zealand, Dunedin - reg Dunedin (1879)

1883 James C Ellis, Newcastle NSW and Joseph Mitchell (Ellis Line), Sydney - reg Sydney 1888 rebuilt by Mort's Dock & Engineering Co at Sydney with new engine and boilers T3cyl 180nhp 14"23"36"x30" Muir & Houston, Glasgow; passengers 50 x 1st, 150 x 2nd 1889 CENTENNIAL 23/08/1889 collided with collier KANAHOOKA (386grt/1883) off Bradley Point, Sydney (Sydney for Wellington, wool, coals and general cargo). All passengers (54) and 30 crew rescued, two crew crushed in collision. Master held responsible. Scuttled off Turakirae Head 9 September 1913.
 * Alhambra
 * 1855
 * Samuda Brothers, Millwall
 * 642
 * 454 hp
 * Screw
 * Alhambra_(1853).jpg
 * Alhambra_(1853).jpg
 * Alhambra_(1853).jpg
 * Alhambra_(1853).jpg

1855-88 Alhambra
On 1 July 1862 sold by P&O to Moss Joshua for McMechan Blackwood & Co's to run Melbourne-Otago until 1882. 30 June 1888 sank off Port Stephens between Newcastle and Sydney.
 * Alexandra
 * 1863
 * Henderson, Coulborn & Co., Renfrew
 * 349
 * 80
 * Screw
 * 2 cylinder diagonal oscillating
 * 2 cylinder diagonal oscillating
 * 2 cylinder diagonal oscillating

1863–65 Alexandra
An iron steamer 160.0 ft x 24.5 ft x 12.0 ft Built for J K Welch, London on 20 March 1863. The Government Commissariat bought her for £13,000. On 26-28 December 1863 550 men of the 50th Regiment left Onehunga on Alexandra, Lady Barkly and the chartered steamer Kangaroo for Raglan. She sank on 8 August 1865 off Pukearuhe after striking a reef. Part of the wreck remains below the surface.
 * Alexandra / Nugget
 * 1863
 * 6
 * 8
 * Twin Screw
 * River
 * High pressure
 * River
 * High pressure

1862- Alexandra / Nugget
Nugget was renamed Alexandra, cut in half and shipped from Melbourne in 1862. 17 July 1863 her maiden voyage as Alexandra.

Nugget, a small steamer used to ferry pleasure seekers from Dunedin to Vauxhall Gardens, was cut up and moved to Lake Wakatipu after January 1863 for the Wakatip Steam Navigation Company. She appears to have started a regular service on the lake early in February 1863. Nugget ran aground on the unlit, unbuoyed reef at the entrance to Queenstown Bay. She was raised on 17 March 1863, but lay on the beach until a court order for debt resulted in a sale for £410.

In 1863 she was a 40-seat steamer linking Dunedin with the newly opened Vauxhall Gardens.

1866 owned with Expert, though in 1865 it had been reported she might move to Hokitika.
 * Antrim
 * 1869
 * Otago
 * 36
 * Paddle
 * Ran on Lake Wakatipu in 1869 at about 8mph.
 * Aphrasia
 * 1841
 * William Lowe, Deptford shipyard, Clarencetown
 * 94
 * 46
 * Paddle
 * 1841
 * William Lowe, Deptford shipyard, Clarencetown
 * 94
 * 46
 * Paddle

1862-64 Aphrasia
Built for Port Phillip Steam Navigation Company's Melbourne-Geelong trade, with her maiden voyage on 24 May 1841. Length 99.6ft., beam 6ft., depth 8.5ft. draught 6ft 6in. On 28 October 1861 Aphrasia sank in the Yarra River after colliding with Balclutha, but was refloated and repaired. In February 1862 she crossed the Tasman Sea to Invercargill, reaching Dunedin on 19 May 1862. She then served Invercargill-Bluff-Riverton, owned by Leslie and Captain John Cheyne, until sold in November 1863. In January 1863 a collision with Prince Alfred damaged Aphrasia. She was overhauled in June 1864 and sent to Auckland for another sale. In November 1864 she was en route from Auckland to Sydney, when she sprang a leak and sheltered near Flat Island / Motueka Island, north of Matauri Bay. Whilst attempting to reach Russell for repair, the leak increased and she washed onto rocks at Tākou Bay. A 1953 painting depicts the steamer with a tall funnel.
 * Auckland
 * 1863
 * Charles Mitchell, Low Walker, Newcastle on-Tyne
 * 699
 * 140
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * 2 cyl. surface condensing by Robert Morrison & Co, Ouseburn
 * 2 cyl. surface condensing by Robert Morrison & Co, Ouseburn

1863- Auckland
Auckland steamer built: 1863 Tons 533 single screw for IRMSP. Register tonnage, 532, length 225 feet, breadth 28 feet. Left Gravesend 15 April 1863 via Cape de Verde, St Helena, Cape Town, Cape Leuwin, Hobson's Bay, arrived Auckland 25 July.

launched as Paulet on 3 January 1863 Completed April 1863

Dimensions: 212.8 x 28.0 x 16.3ft

07/04/1863 IRMSP, London, 1864 restyled Panama, New Zealand & Australian Royal Mail Co, 1869 ASN, Sydney, 1871 Engine compounded by William Jaffrey, ASN

27/05/1871: Wrecked near Cape Everard, en route from Melbourne to Sydney with general cargo.
 * Australia
 * Avon / Clyde
 * 1866
 * 27
 * 32
 * Paddle
 * River
 * Non-condensing
 * Avon / Clyde
 * 1866
 * 27
 * 32
 * Paddle
 * River
 * Non-condensing
 * 32
 * Paddle
 * River
 * Non-condensing

1859–86 Avon
Avon was an 1859 iron paddle steamer, built by Barclay, Curle & Co. Ltd. at their Stobcross Yard for Canterbury Local Steam Navigation Co, Lyttelton. She was 42 grt, 58.2 ft long, 15.4 ft wide, 6.5 ft deep, with a 30nhp engine. Shipped "in frame" and launched at Lyttelton. 8 February 1860. Intended for service on River Avon, but too large. Transferred to Lyttelton-Heathcote-Kaiapoi. 1862 New Zealand Government, 11/1862 taken up as a naval gunboat HMS Avon for the Waikato War. Towed to Onehunga for refit and arming, 18/2/1864 snagged in Waipa River, c1865 converted to coal hulk at Port Waikato, 1868 J & E Ellis, Auckland, 1868 rebuilt by Robert Gibbons at Manukau, 1869 Joseph Banks, Shortland, 1871 Frederick Banks, Lyttelton,1872 20nhp 1-screw re-engined and converted to screw propulsion, 41grt 34nrt, 58.3 x 15.6 x 6.4ft, 1878 John Duthie & John P Watts, Whanganui, 1882 Edward Broughton, Wanganui, 1883 H Lewis & E Broughton, Nelson, c1883 engine removed as rigged as a ketch, 41nrt, 1883 Edward A Robinson, Nelson, 188x F Trask, Nelson, 9/1886 agreed sale to Mr Forman, Wellington not completed due to her loss. Wrecked in Blind Bay 30/09/1886. New engines and a boiler were fitted in Avon, she was renamed Clyde and ran between Tamaki and Thames. In 1876 she was converted to twin screws. She was broken up in Auckland about 1883.
 * Ballarat
 * 1864 wrecked on Mahia, at Te Hori. Refloated as the Napier in October 1864.
 * Beautiful Star
 * 1862
 * J Wigham Richardson, Neptune yard, Low Walker
 * 156
 * 30
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Beautiful Star
 * 1862
 * J Wigham Richardson, Neptune yard, Low Walker
 * 156
 * 30
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Low pressure

1862-1907 Beautiful Star
An iron ship, launched on 19 December 1861 and completed on 20 January 1862, she cost £3401 3s 1d to build, the shipyard losing £151 3s 1d on the contract. Her 2-cylinder (18 & 18 x 13ins), 30nhp engines by J Thompson & Co, Newcastle, cost £990 and allowed her to voyage at up to 8.5 knots. She was 119.1 x 17.1 x 10.5ft. On 22 January 1862 Broomfield & Whitaker registered her at Newcastle.

On her 1862 London to Tasmania delivery voyage she carried fresh water trays for salmon eggs for an acclimatisation society, but the ova died from the rough 142 day voyage, failure of refrigeration and rust and varnish poisoning. She ran as a collier between Bellambi and Sydney, until 1863, when she was bought to ship the gun boat Koheroa (see below) and coal from Sydney to Waikato and then also the Rangiriri (see below). She then served Auckland, Tauranga, Napier, Dunedin-west coast, was reported as Dunedin owned in March 1867 and registered in Dunedin in 1867 for Union S. S. Co. and by 1874 Dunedin Harbour Steam Co, Dunedin. In 1900 she returned to Tasmania with Thomas Nichols of Hobart. She had been laid up at the Domain Slip, Hobart, for some time, when a fire burnt her out on 25 December 1907. The hulk was beached and abandoned at New Town Bay, where it was visible until covered by road works in the 1960s.
 * Bella
 * 1873
 * Auckland
 * 12
 * Screw
 * 1874 owned by M J Pearcey at Napier.
 * Betsy Douglas
 * 1862
 * J D Douglas Pelichet Bay, Dunedin
 * 14
 * 12
 * Paddle
 * River
 * High pressure
 * 14
 * 12
 * Paddle
 * River
 * High pressure

1862-71 Betsy Douglas
She was launched on 14 June 1862. The Provincial Government gave a £500 subsidy for a mail run to Lake Waihola. By 1867 she was being re-engined in the Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River for the Lyttelton-Pigeon Bay route. After sinking in Rhodes Bay, she was converted to a schooner in 1870. On 27 December 1871, near Charleston, she hit a rock and sank.
 * Black Diamond
 * 1873
 * Robert Stone, Shortland, Thames
 * 29
 * 25 hp
 * Paddle
 * Paddle

1873-92 Black Diamond
Launched on 1 February 1873 as a barge tug for Bay of Islands Coal Company, Kawakawa 60 ft x 14 ft, draught 2.5 ft. Probably replaced Waiomio. In 1889 her engine was removed to power a flax mill in Freemans Bay and the ship was broken up at Auckland in 1892.
 * Blue Nose
 * 1864
 * Onehunga
 * 42
 * 30
 * Paddle
 * River
 * Horizontal engine by J. Myers, Boston. Non-condensing
 * Horizontal engine by J. Myers, Boston. Non-condensing

1864-78 Bluenose
Bluenose was a 42 ton paddle steamer, launched on 12 January 1864 from the beach at Onehunga, by John Bigelow for McLeod of Kaipara, 60grt, 83' length, 14' 9" beam, 6' 9" hold depth, 25' through the guards. Her carrying capacity was about 75 tons, with a flat bottomed draught of 15 inches. The geared paddles were 12 feet diameter, with 13 floats, 4 feet 6 inches by 12 inches. Her maiden voyage was in January 1864. WSN valued her at £700 in 1878. She may have sunk at her Ngāruawāhia mooring, or on a snag about 6 mi up the Waipā, or been broken up in 1881.

In 1878 Waikato Steam Navigation and Goal Mining Co. Limited Delta, £2800; Rangiriri, £1800; Waikato, £1500; Bluenose, £700, barges Bendigo, Cambridge, Grey, Melbourne, Quickstep, Taupiri, Waihi, Waipa, small barges, 2 stores at Port Waikato, store and office at Mercer, stores at Hamilton East and West, Te Rore, Cambridge, Newcastle store, office, wharf and patent slips Auckland furniture, Port Waikato gridiron and a store and tram at Alexandra.
 * Boomerang
 * 1854
 * Thomas Wingate & Co., Glasgow
 * 324
 * 106 hp
 * Screw
 * Screw

1854-98 Boomerang
Launched at the East Whiteinch yard on 28 January 1854 for ASN, Melbourne, 170.1 ft long, 21.3 ft wide x 11.3 ft deep, 1-screw. In 1858 ASN's monthly Melbourne-Wellington mail run continued for nearly a year, until IRMSP offered a much cheaper contract. 1864 lengthened at Pyrmont to 211.8 ft long, 21.7 ft wide, 655grt. 1881 sold to W H Eldred, 1881 to J J Ames & R H Willis, 1882 to Newcastle Steamship Co Ltd, 1891 merged with Newcastle & Hunter River Steam Navigation Co, 1894 to T. M. Goodall, Sydney and hulked in Sydney. Broken up at Sydney in 1898.
 * Bruce
 * 1864
 * Scott & Co., Greenock
 * 83
 * 40
 * Paddle
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Low pressure

1864-69 Bruce
Built 1864. West coast from Hokitika. Left Timaru, hit a rock off Taiaroa Head and sank on 23 October 1875. Bruce was of iron and formed the nucleus of the Otago Steam Ship Company Limited. She came from Glasgow in sections, and was launched on 6 July 1864 from reclaimed land near Birch street wharf, Dunedin, by Kincaid, M'Queen and Co. Her speed was close to 14 knots.

launched from Cartsdyke East yard on 5 July 1864 for Mary Greer & others, Dunedin. Shipped in sections from Greenock in Resolute. Re-assembled by Kincaid & McQueen 5 July 1864 launched for Otago harbour trades. 131.4 ft 	16.3 ft 	6.9 ft. 1869 J Darling & James Malcolm, Dunedin. Later transferred to Westport-Nelson trade, 1866 also used as a tug at Hokitika. Stranded 1 July 1869 on South Beach, Grey River, 9 July 1869 became total loss during salvage attempts.
 * Challenge
 * 1866
 * 24
 * 40
 * Paddle
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Built 1856 by John Thompson, Rotherhithe. Wooden paddle tug. L84.6'. B16.6'. D8.9'. 78grt. 25nrt. 181ihp 2cyl side lever steam engine by John Stewart, Blackwall. 8-1856 Delivered to John Deane, Gravesend. 3-3-1860 Assistance to brig Lucia in Princes Channel. 1865 Sold to David Spence, Melbourne. Delivered under sail.  1874 Owner John Dalton, Newcastle NSW. 30-4-1876 Sunk after colliding with New England off Bradley's Head, Sydney.  Salved. 2-1891 Converted to barge. 9-5-1917.
 * Challenger
 * 1870
 * Niccol & Sons
 * 34 hp
 * Paddle
 * High pressure
 * 34 hp
 * Paddle
 * High pressure
 * High pressure
 * High pressure

1870-74 Challenger
Launched on 15 January 1870 for Holmes Brothers, 85 ft long, 12.5 ft wide x 5.25 ft deep, 22 in draught, with a Fraser & Tinne engine, which was transferred to Manaia in 1873. She sank at her mooring in a gale in February 1874. Holmes Brothers rebuilt her as Durham in 1876.
 * Charles Edward
 * 1863
 * William Denny & Brothers Dumbarton
 * 89 or 141
 * 60
 * Paddle
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Charles_Edward_at_Kaduku.jpg) in 1870]]Charles_Edward_about_1900.jpg
 * Charles_Edward_at_Kaduku.jpg) in 1870]]Charles_Edward_about_1900.jpg

1868-08 Charles Edward
A paddle steamer, launched on 9 December 1863. She was valued at £7,500 when sent from Melbourne to Hokitika by Gipps Land Lakes Steam Navigation Company for the gold rush, but stranded on Greymouth bar in 1868 and reported as wrecked and under-insured to her shareholders. An information board at Shaving Point, Metung, says she was sold in 1876, but Edwards & Co bought her for £1,000 in 1868, when Alexander Brown repaired her in just over a fortnight for about £600. She was built in 1862, when her passenger accommodation was in cabins on deck and below, she was 125 feet long, 20 feet beam, drew 6 feet, had 60hp steeple engines, carried 120 tons and was 80 registered tons. On 28 February 1870 she hit a snag in the Hollyford River and was grounded. By 5 April she had been refloated and was able to leave the Kaduku River.

In 1876 she was lengthened by 16 ft. or 12, as a schooner rigged paddle steamer. She was converted to a twin screw vessel in 1883, which saved space and fuel and increased her speed. In 1900 she was again lengthened slightly, her hold space was enlarged and her clipper bow and figurehead of Bonnie Prince Charlie, were replaced by a raked stem. She was then registered as 145 tons, with a 48hp compound engine. She was wrecked at Whanganui on 16 December 1908, after which she and her cargo of coal were sold for £25.

Built for the Otago Steam Ship Company, she was swiftly sold to Australian interests before being the first Anchor ship to visit Onehunga on 3 September 1868, arriving with 97 gold-diggers bound for Thames.
 * City of Auckland
 * 1859
 * Henry, Edward & William Tizard, Penrose
 * 40
 * Screw
 * Screw
 * Screw

1859-78 City of Auckland
She had a keel of 80ft, was the first screw steamer built in Auckland and made her first trip to Coromandel on 25 June 1859. She was schooner rigged and owned by her builders, until a mortgage sale in November 1859. In 1869 a 780 ton clipper ship was built by John Blumer in Sunderland. She was on fire in Auckland in 1871 and lost in 1878, en route from London to Napier and Wellington, beaching near Otaki.
 * City of Dunedin
 * 1863
 * Archibald Denny, Dumbarton
 * 463
 * Paddle
 * Paddle
 * Paddle

1863-65 City of Dunedin
She replaced Geelong, arriving from Glasgow on 25 November 1863. She was 167.3 ft long, 22.1 ft wide,15.8 ft deep, 7.5 ft draught, but never located, though wreckage was found in Palliser Bay, having left Wellington for the West Coast on 20 May 1865. She had at least 15 passengers.
 * Claude Hamilton
 * 1867
 * 530
 * 100
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Usually surveyed in Sydney.
 * Cleopatra
 * 1866
 * Auckland
 * 21
 * 25
 * Paddle
 * River
 * High pressure
 * Paddle
 * River
 * High pressure

1866-68 Cleopatra
A government transport in the iinvasion of the Waikato. Sold to J Paul of Nelson in 1867. 100 x 14 x 3 to 4 hold 5' 3". Wrecked 6 April 1868 Cape Palliser Nelson-Wellington, after the wind suddenly changed and her 6 to 7 knots inadequte, so that she had to be run ashore in White Rock Bay, where she broke in half that night. An enquiry found the captain wasn't to blame. She was sold for £127.
 * Clyde
 * 1868
 * Manakau
 * Screw
 * registered at Lyttelton in 1872 by Frank Banks.
 * Comerang
 * 1866
 * 152
 * 60
 * Paddle
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * From Australia in 1866. Auckland-Russell-Napier 1869. Registered at Nelson in 1873 by Albion Coal Co.
 * Delta
 * 1876
 * PS_Delta_at_Cambridge.jpg
 * Paddle
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * From Australia in 1866. Auckland-Russell-Napier 1869. Registered at Nelson in 1873 by Albion Coal Co.
 * Delta
 * 1876
 * PS_Delta_at_Cambridge.jpg
 * PS_Delta_at_Cambridge.jpg
 * PS_Delta_at_Cambridge.jpg
 * PS_Delta_at_Cambridge.jpg
 * PS_Delta_at_Cambridge.jpg
 * PS_Delta_at_Cambridge.jpg
 * PS_Delta_at_Cambridge.jpg
 * PS_Delta_at_Cambridge.jpg

1876-89 Delta
WSN valued her at £2,800 in 1878. Delta was still one of their assets when the company was in liquidation in 1889, Delta was launched at Ngāruawāhia on 2 January 1877, by Alexander Niccoll, as Waipa and could carry 100 passengers, or 300 sheep. She worked the Ngāruawāhia–Pirongia and Ngāruawāhia–Cambridge routes on alternate weeks, with Waikato and was 120 ft x 18 ft x 4 ft, with a 2 ft draught. Her saloon cabin was 18 ft square x 8 ft high, ladies cabin 12 ft x 16 ft, fore cabin 23 ft x 17.7 ft and hurricane deck 100 ft by 18 ft. February 13 the Otago Witness reported Dunedin harbour ferry, Expert. was cut in two ready to be transported on wagons to the lake. Gibson and Co gained the mail contract with her. 1866 owned with Alexandra. She was moved back to Dunedin in 1869. Expert ran from St John's to Queenstown in 1913.
 * Devenport
 * 1870
 * Auckland
 * 23
 * Paddle
 * Auckland & North Shore Steam Ferry.
 * Dispatch
 * 1866
 * North Fleet
 * 38
 * 40
 * Paddle
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Built in London. Stranded Hokitika 2 December 1866. Lighter at Greymouth in 1868. Grey River Steam Tug 1867.
 * Duke of Edinburgh
 * 1868
 * 51
 * 35
 * Paddle
 * Extended River
 * Low pressure
 * Running to Shortland, Thames. Sims & Brown converted her to a 3-masted schooner in 1873.
 * Easby
 * 1872
 * Stockton on Tees
 * 969
 * Screw
 * F C Fulton, Dunedin 1874.
 * Effort
 * 1871
 * Auckland
 * 13
 * Screw
 * J Smythe.
 * Egmont
 * 1867
 * 308
 * 80
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Surveyed in Sydney latterly.
 * Enterprise, No. 1
 * 1866
 * Auckland
 * 22
 * 10
 * Paddle
 * River
 * Non-condensing
 * Auckland & North Shore Steam Ferry.
 * Enterprise, No. 2
 * 1866
 * 43
 * 32
 * Paddle
 * Extended River
 * Non-condensing
 * Expert
 * 1863
 * 7
 * 8
 * Screw
 * River
 * High pressure
 * Plies on Lake Wakatip sent from Dunedin on 24 February 1863
 * River
 * Non-condensing
 * Auckland & North Shore Steam Ferry.
 * Enterprise, No. 2
 * 1866
 * 43
 * 32
 * Paddle
 * Extended River
 * Non-condensing
 * Expert
 * 1863
 * 7
 * 8
 * Screw
 * River
 * High pressure
 * Plies on Lake Wakatip sent from Dunedin on 24 February 1863
 * 8
 * Screw
 * River
 * High pressure
 * Plies on Lake Wakatip sent from Dunedin on 24 February 1863
 * Fairy
 * 1873
 * Dunedin
 * 32
 * Screw
 * G E G Richardson, J Campbell at Napier.
 * Favorite
 * 1866
 * 38
 * 45
 * Paddle
 * River
 * Low pressure
 * 1863_collision_of_Favorite_with_Pride_of_the_Yarra.jpg
 * 38
 * 45
 * Paddle
 * River
 * Low pressure
 * 1863_collision_of_Favorite_with_Pride_of_the_Yarra.jpg

1863- Favorite
Favorite, belonged to Duncain, the owners of Lady Barkly, was built by White, of Williamstown, Length, 100ft x 16ft x 21 inches in 1863 had a 45-horse power condensing engine and boiler 11 miles per hour.

Favourite A cutter built at Onehunga in 1862, she was 17.75 tons and 42 feet in length. Owned by Onehunga mariner T. Williamson, she sailed from the Manukau in April 1866 and disappeared.
 * Gazelle
 * 1866
 * Waterford 1852
 * 47
 * 30
 * Screw
 * Extended River
 * High pressure
 * Lyttelton. H P N Agnesley 1868.
 * Geelong
 * 1854
 * Thomas Wingate & Co, Whiteinch 1866
 * 218
 * 90
 * Paddle
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure

1854-79 Geelong
Geelong was launched in November 1854 for Geelong Steam Navigation Co, registered in 1856 by Thomas Thorpe, W Locke & W McMullen, Melbourne and transferred to ASN in 1858, to Southern Steam Navigation Co Ltd, Dunedin in 1859 to serve Dunedin and Oamaru, John Jones, Dunedin about 1869, Donald Sinclair, Port Chalmers in 1874 and George W Binney, Auckland in 1877. She had a 2-cylinder diagonal engine. She was the first of the coastal steamships serving Dunedin, until replaced by City of Dunedin in 1863, after which she worked as a tug. Broke up on 14 March 1879, when she hit a spit inside Whangape bar. 2 were drowned.
 * Gemini
 * 1866
 * 10
 * 7
 * Twin Screw
 * River
 * Non-condensing
 * Go-ahead
 * 1866
 * Thomas B Seath & Co, Rutherglen
 * 70
 * 30
 * Twin Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Non-condensing
 * 30
 * Twin Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Non-condensing

1867-87 Go Ahead
She served many of the ports around the country until she sank in 1887.
 * Golden Age
 * 1862
 * White's, Williamstown, Melbourne
 * 78
 * 60
 * Paddle
 * River
 * High pressure
 * High pressure

1862- Golden Age
Arrived to work between Dunedin-Port Chalmers with Pride of the Yarra. Golden Age came from Melbourne under her own power, arriving on 13 January 1863. Dunedin in 1868.
 * Golden Crown
 * 1870
 * Duthie & Ross, Auckland
 * 113
 * 140 hp
 * Paddle
 * Paddle

1870-92 Golden Crown
Launched on 20 August 1870 at Smale's Point for the Auckland Golden Crown & Steam Navigation Company, she was wooden, 200 ft long, 22.4 ft wide, 9 ft deep, with 140 hp engines by James Thomson & Son, Glasgow, driving her 23 ft diameter paddle wheels at up to 14 knot. In 1874 Sorrento & Queenscliff Steam Navigation Co bought her to serve Melbourne, Mornington, Dromana, Sorrento and Queenscliff. She was withdrawn in 1888 and broken up in 1892.
 * Golden Land
 * 1866
 * 15
 * 12
 * Stern Wheel
 * River
 * High pressure
 * Built in Greymouth. Laid up
 * Governor Wynyard
 * 1851
 * William Bourne, Auckland
 * Governor Wynyard
 * 1851
 * William Bourne, Auckland

1851-1873 Governor Wynyard
Governor Wynyard, the first steam ship built in New Zealand, was a Waitematā Harbour paddle steamer. In 1853 she became a ferry in Tasmania, had her engines removed in 1858 and was wrecked in 1873.
 * Gundagai
 * 1854
 * Robert Napier & Sons, Govan
 * 130
 * 50 hp
 * 50 hp

1854-66 Gundagai
An iron paddle steamer 120 ft long, 16 ft wide x 6 ft deep, oscillating engine by Neilson & Co., Glasgow, 10.5 knot, built at the Lancefield yard, shipped in sections in brig Lady Emma to Port Elliot (arrived 17 January 1855) and erected by Francis Cadell at Goolwa for the River Murray Steam Navigation Co. Worked with the river steamers Lady Augusta, Melbourne and Albury. Used mainly on Goolwa-Port Adelaide route. 1859 sold to W Younghusband, 1864 to E J Spence and registered in Auckland, then sold to Government, arrived from Adelaide in June 1864 and was wrecked on Pātea bar on 25 June 1866, whilst bringing Government stores from Whanganui. Her engines were used in Wallace (see below) in 1867.
 * Gymnotus
 * 1866
 * 12
 * 8
 * Screw
 * River
 * Non-condensing
 * Halcyon
 * 1866
 * 24
 * 25
 * Twin Screw
 * Extended River
 * Non-condensing
 * 24
 * 25
 * Twin Screw
 * Extended River
 * Non-condensing

1866-77 Halcyon
The first steamer built specifically for the Onehunga-Waiuku run. She was built of heart kauri milled from the adjacent forest by Wing Brothers at Paratutai, launched on 27 March 1866 and fitted out at Onehunga. She could carry 35 tons of cargo, each screw was independent, giving her a shallower draft and greater manoeuvrability. She made her maiden voyage on September 13, 1866, but only visited Waiuku 3 times in 3 months, prompting her owners to sell her for west coast use 3 months later. Ran aground on Raratoka Island on 15 February 1877.
 * Hauraki
 * 1874
 * 109
 * 64 hp
 * Paddle
 * 64 hp
 * Paddle

1874- Hauraki
Built by Holmes Brothers with engines by C Hawkeswood, giving a speed of 9 knot. 112.4 ft long, 16.2 ft wide x 5.8 ft deep.
 * Hero
 * 1861
 * Earle's Shipbuilding, Hull
 * 150 hp
 * Screw
 * 150 hp
 * Screw

1861-1901 Hero
Was in the Union fleet 1883-91. Wrecked 1901.
 * Huntress
 * 1867
 * 54
 * 50
 * Paddle
 * Extended River
 * Non-condensing
 * Laid up
 * Jane
 * 1867
 * 25
 * 18
 * Twin Screw
 * Extended River
 * Non-condensing
 * New, built at Auckland Registered by A J Thomson at Dunedin in 1873.
 * Jane Williams
 * 33
 * Screw
 * Built and registered in Dunedin for John R Williams and George Archer.
 * John Penn
 * 1868
 * 122
 * 50
 * Twin Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Was west coast, now Thames.
 * Kaikoura
 * Kangaroo
 * 1856
 * J Wigham Richardson, Wallsend
 * 220
 * 45
 * Screw
 * 22in. oscillating engines by R. & W. Hawthorne, Newcastle-on-Tyne
 * Iron coaster. Length 136.5 feet Breadth 20.5 ft. Depth 11 ft 2in. Draught 9 ft., 8.5 knots. On 26 December 1863 Kangaroo and Alexandra left Onehunga for Raglan. An 1881 report said she was built in 1856 and chartered to Westport Coal Co. in 1881, after being at Adelaide. She sank on 2 May 1884 after hitting a rock near Cape Campbell, whilst carrying coal from Westport to Lyttelton. The inquiry found that she steered too close to the coast.
 * Keera
 * 1866
 * 146
 * 50
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Wrecked Buller 2 November 1866 . Whanganui-Manukau in 1868.
 * Kennedy
 * 1866
 * 110
 * 36
 * Twin Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Koheroa
 * J Wigham Richardson, Wallsend
 * 220
 * 45
 * Screw
 * 22in. oscillating engines by R. & W. Hawthorne, Newcastle-on-Tyne
 * Iron coaster. Length 136.5 feet Breadth 20.5 ft. Depth 11 ft 2in. Draught 9 ft., 8.5 knots. On 26 December 1863 Kangaroo and Alexandra left Onehunga for Raglan. An 1881 report said she was built in 1856 and chartered to Westport Coal Co. in 1881, after being at Adelaide. She sank on 2 May 1884 after hitting a rock near Cape Campbell, whilst carrying coal from Westport to Lyttelton. The inquiry found that she steered too close to the coast.
 * Keera
 * 1866
 * 146
 * 50
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Wrecked Buller 2 November 1866 . Whanganui-Manukau in 1868.
 * Kennedy
 * 1866
 * 110
 * 36
 * Twin Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Koheroa
 * 36
 * Twin Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Koheroa
 * Koheroa
 * Koheroa

1864-68 Koheroa
A stern wheel steamer 90.6 x 20 ft Built 1864 at Sydney of iron and reassembled at Port Waikato Wrecked 1868 off Cape Palliser.

P. Russell and Co. A Sydney newspaper, in describing one of the boats, said, “This boat, which can easily turn in the space of a little more than her own length, may follow the bendings of such a river as the Waikato in its narrowest part, and may either be used as a steam-tug, towing flats for the conveyance of troops, or may be armed with a gun at each of the singular-looking portholes, which are closed with folding doors, in the middle of the lower deck; while the bulwarks on each side are pierced with twenty or thirty loopholes for rifle shooting.” The “Koheroa” was built in less than six weeks from the time the contract was received from Mr. James Stewart, C.E., who had been sent to Sydney by the New Zealand Government to superintend the construction. The sections of the “Koheroa” were brought from Sydney to Port Waikato by the Beautiful Star (see above). The first bolt was riveted on the 4th January, 1864, and the vessel was launched on the 15th. I can find no record of these boats being engaged in hostilities, but they were used for transport work for some time.
 * Lady Barkly
 * 1866
 * George White, Williamstown
 * 30
 * 25
 * Paddle/ later screw
 * Extended River
 * Low pressure
 * Low pressure

1861–1934 Lady Barkly
Lady Barkly (sometimes Lady Barkley) was a 49grt, 95ft long paddle steamer converted by Anchor to a 30-berth, 72hp, 98ft long, screw steamer in 1883. Renamed Hina. 49grt 91.9 x 12 ft x 6ft Built of wood as a paddle steamer in 1861 by George White at Williamstown, she was powered by a 25hp engine, weighed 43 ton, and measured 91.9 ft x 12 ft x 6 ft. Lady Barkly was bought by the Government from Hobson's Bay as a tender in Manukau harbour. She was an unarmed troop carrier in the invasion of the Waikato, primarily used to seek and destroy Māori canoes which might be used to transport an invading force, and for ferrying men and supplies between the Manukau and the Waikato Heads. On her maiden voyage to Drury on 26 October 1863, she ran aground on the return trip to Onehunga and was stranded for a fortnight. Soon after, she was used to capture a number of natives camped between the Manukau Heads and Waiuku, returning to Onehunga with her captives. Captain Parnell then led a detachment of Naval Volunteers to Awhitu to capture more natives.

She was built at Williamstown, Port Philip, in 1861, by David and George White and named after the wife of Sir Henry Barkly, Governor of Victoria. She was used as a lighthouse tender and as a yacht for the Governor. Alternatively, she may have been built for Captain Adams to serve the Gabriel’s Gully gold workings. A little over two years after she had been launched she was acquired by the New Zealand Government. A gun having been mounted aboard her, she saw action in the Waikato rising. Under the command of Captain Fairchild, she acted as an advance guard to steamers towing barges filled with troops. It was her particular business to shell all fortified posts on the banks of the river. Though a paddle steamer, she possesed a very fair turn of speed. For some time she lay on Manukau Harbour mud flats. Captain Cross, the first harbour master and pilot of Nelson, had her surveyed at Onehunga; she was built of Autralian gum hardwood and in good condition. She was based in Nelson from 1867 for Red Cross Flag Company's Collingwood-Nelson service. 90ft x 12ft x 6ft, up to 70 passengers each trip. The mail contract was £700 a year. In 1882 she was converted to a screw steamer. Murrell, of Wellington, renamed her Hina. was seized by the crew in lieu of wages, but she was abandoned off Haven road. Nelson until the Harbour Board bought her for £13. In June 1928 Hina, which had been on Nelson mud flat, was beached at Haulashore Island for scrapping.
 * Lady Bird
 * 1851
 * William Denny & Brothers Dumbarton
 * 220
 * 70
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Low pressure

1871-75 Ladybird
Launched on 10 March 1851 Iron Screw Steamer 3 Masts 143.7 ft x 21.3 ft x 19 ft Engine by Caird & Company, Greenock 2cyl 34"34"x24" 70nhp 12kn, 1-screw for H. P. Maples, London. 16/04/1851

1853 James Cowie, Geelong - reg Geelong (for Launceston Steamship Co).

1855 J Crookes & Partners, Launceston - reg Launceston.

1856 Green & Cleveland, Launceston

1856 Stephen G Henty, Melbourne - reg Melbourne (1857)

1863 New Zealand Steam Nav Co, Wellington - reg Wellington (1864)

1870 J Dransfield & Co, Wellington

1872 New Zealand Steam Ship Co, Wellington

1876 Union Steamship Co of New Zealand Ltd, Wellington.

1877 reg Dunedin.

1881 Westport Coal Co

English Channel packet.

The Launceston Steamship Company ran her between Melbourne and Hobart, before she was taken to New Zealand.

1857 lengthened 323grt 219nrt, 151.2 x 22.2 x 12ft

1883 hulked

Despite being recorded as LADYBIRD in the Denny List, her registration was always LADY BIRD. Built 1861 Tonnage 19 Laid up 1866-9 until repaired A 421 gross ton sailing schooner built in Dumbarton in 1851 which operated for the NZ Steam Shipping Co Ltd between 1871 and 1875 linking Onehunga with Taranaki, Nelson, Picton, Wellington, Lyttelton and Dunedin, transhipping passengers and cargo at Wellington for Napier, Poverty Bay and Wanganui, and at Nelson for Westport, Greymouth and Hokitika. Taken over by Union Ladybird was the first ship to be scuttled at Turakirae Head, was an English Channel ferry, sold to Melbourne in 1853. Converted into a hulk at Wellington in 1887, she was used for target practice by HMS Challenger on 20 May 1905.
 * Lady Bowen
 * 1868
 * Auckland
 * 29
 * Paddle
 * Paddle
 * Paddle

1868- Lady Bowen
A paddle steamer built 1868, 26 tons Registered by Jeremiah Casey at Auckland in 1871.
 * Lady of the Lake
 * 1862
 * Dunedin
 * 56
 * 25
 * Paddle
 * River
 * High pressure
 * High pressure

1862-75 Lady of the Lake
Launched at Pelichet Bay, Dunedin on 1 January 1862, she was 65ft x 14ft and assembled with parts from England and Scotland. In June 1862 she started serving Taieri River-Lake Waihola and, from 20 August 1863, Dunedin-Port Chalmers. By 1866 she was a lighter at Dunedin. On 29 December 1875 she ran ashore and sank near Port Molyneaux.
 * Lalla Rookh
 * 1868
 * Auckland
 * 23
 * 14
 * Paddle Screw
 * Extended River
 * Non-condensing
 * She was running to Shortland, Thames in 1869.
 * Lily
 * 1872
 * Auckland
 * 20
 * Screw
 * Registered by J Casey at Auckland in 1873.
 * Lioness
 * 1851
 * 60
 * 60
 * Paddle
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * 1851
 * 60
 * 60
 * Paddle
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Low pressure

1851- Lioness
87 ton paddle steamer, built in Durham in 1851, 94.1 ft long, 17.6 ft beam, 9.6 ft deep, with 60 hp engines from PS Samson, wrecked at Hokitika in 1865. She was owned by Grey River Steam Tug Co Ltd. She stranded on the south spit at Greymouth on 1 March 1876. On September 1 1882 a northwesterly gale lifted her broadside on to the protective works. Two holes were made in her port quarter. With the help of a hawser the crew managed to get ashore safely. The starboard paddle box and wheels and all light woodwork were soon smashed up.
 * Lord Ashley
 * 1868
 * Denny of Dumbarton
 * 296
 * 80
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Low pressure

1858-72 Lord Ashley
Lord Ashley, the first IRMSP ship, the Lord Worsley, (since wrecked), Prince Alfred, Airedale, Victory, (wrecked), Claud Hamilton, a superbly fitted but slow boat, all on Sydney-New Zealand ports.

Paulet (Auckland), Aldinga, City of Hobart, Gothenburg, and Omeo, on Melbourne-Port Chalmers route; Storm Bird and Wonga Wonga between Wellington and the local ports; Tasmanian Maid for Auckland-Coromandel; a new 200 ton boat for the Auckland coasting trade; another new 150 ton boat for Nelson Steam Navigation Company. Queen, replaced by Lord Ashley on Auckland-Napier-Wellington-Lyttelton-Port Chalmers-Bluff.

435-ton, iron, screw steamer, built in 1857 at Hull, by Martin Samuelson for Z. C. Pearson & Coleman & Co., to run between Hull and the Baltic for IRMSP. She was 188 ft × 25 ft × 13 ft, 296 tons, 80 hp. She left Milford Haven on 26 May 1858, stopped for coal and provisions at Port Fairy and arrived at Auckland on 13 October, where she was offered by Edward Coleman for the New Zealand Royal Mail Steamship Company. In 1869 she was registered at Sydney, for Shepherd Smith and sold to John Manning of Sydney in 1872 for the Sydney-Rockhampton route. In June 1877 she was converted to a collier plying between Newcastle and Melbourne, but, on 8 September 1877, sprang a leak, struck Terrigal Reef and broke in two. A pile of anchor chain and the 2-cylinder engine remain.

Lord Ashley and Lord Worsley served the Nelson-New Plymouth-Manukau rand Nelson-Wellington-Lyttelton-Port Chalmers run, after arriving in Nelson from Sydney carrying passengers and mail. in December 1859 a leak on a New Plymouth-Manukau trip was within three inches of the boiler fires, but she reached Manukau. After temporary repairs she went to Sydney's Pyrmont slipway. Typical fares of the time between Wellington and the Manukau were 10 pounds for a cabin and 7 pounds for steerage.

White Swan was replaced by Lord Ashley in Auckland and Worsley at Nelson, and were followed by Prince Alfred and Airedale. IRMSP took over. Lord Ashley had new boilers for use on the East Coast. Claud Hamilton was followed by a larger and equally superbly fitted boat, Auckland, for Sydney, Auckland, and the South. Airedale was renovated to run between Manukau and Bluff, with new boilers at Sydney in 1865, replaced by Phoebe, from the England-Cape of Good Hope mail packet. She is built of iron, in 1851, 585 tons, 172 feet 8 inches long, 25 feet 5 inches beam, 15 feet 6 inches depth, 120hp. Nelson, Lyttelton, and Dunedin, have local steamers. Wanganui and Napier have entered into contract for theirs. Wellington N.Z.S.N. Co, with red and white angled flag, has 4 ships over 600 tons. The Nelson & Marlborough Coast Steam Navigation Company ran the Sturt with a subsidy of £100 a month, until 1864, when she was refused a certificate because her plating was too thin. From 18 July 1864 the Nelson (see Fleet below) was leased from the Trust Fund, until the company was wound up in September 1865.
 * Lord Worsley
 * Lord Worsley

1858-62 Lord Worsley
Sister ship, Lord Worsley, which had been running between Hull and Hamburg, was launched sideways in June 1857 at Hull, of 290 tons, with a 40 hp twin engine, or 580 tons, with 90 hp trunk engines, barque-rigged, 10 knot, 190 ft long, 24 ft beam, 12 ft draught, with 30 berths for first-class passengers, and 60 in the fore cabin. She left Greenhithe on 2 June 1858 and arrived at Port Chalmers on 2 October. At 1.30am on 1 September 1862 she ran onto rocks at Namu Bay, near Ōpunake. When the tide went down, all on board were able to get ashore.
 * Luna
 * 1864
 * Greenwich
 * 310
 * 120
 * Paddle
 * Sea-going
 * Puysegur Point Lighthouse# Background
 * 1872_Luna_at_Port_Chalmers.jpg
 * 1872_Luna_at_Port_Chalmers.jpg

1870-1903 Luna
iron, 170.1 x 24 x 8.5 Registered at London in 1864, Melbourne in 1868; Sydney, 1868; Auckland 1870; and at Wellington in 1877. Charles Heaphy sailed on her to Milford Sound in 1874. In 1867 she ran into and sank the steamer Black Swan at Williamstown. In 1869 Mr. Harris bought her for the Auckland-Thames route. Before leaving Australia she was fitted with new boilers at the Waterview Bay Company's Works. She arrived at Auckland on 24 January 1870. Built for use as a blockade runner for the American Civil War to run between Bermuda and the southern States, schooner rigged, with 2 funnels, either side of the engine room. These served single boilers. 2 oscillating - cylinder engines drove each paddle wheel. They were able to drive each wheel separately, being disconnected by a clutch on the crank web. She was very powerful and could do 17 knots. She was bought by the Government in 1870 for used by the army and also the Marine Department, as their first lighthouse tender, and as the Governor’s yacht; she transported Prince Alfred in 1870 and took Sir George Bowen to open the Dunedin-Port Chalmers railway in 1872 and, later, the Port Chalmers graving dock. Luna was sold around 1877 to W. and G. Turnbull, Greymouth for £4000 and then to M. Kennedy, a Greymouth merchant. From at least 1890 she was at Lyttelton's Oil Wharf site as a coal hulk. On 24 January 1903, to avoid her sinking at her berth, she was towed to a point just inside Port Levy rocks and sunk.
 * Lyttelton
 * 1859
 * Scott Russell Millwall
 * 78
 * 25
 * Paddle
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Low pressure

1860-86 Lyttelton
49grt, 25hp condensing. Paddle steamer Built in 1859. 25 horse-power, 75 feet long, and 18 feet beam, draught 4ft. 6in. She is an iron boat. The ketch-rigged paddle-steamer sailed from the Thames on 18 August 1859, via Cork, Cape de Verde and Cape Coast Castle, where the captain and many crew went down with fever. Good progress was made under sail as far as the equator, where the vessel was becalmed for several weeks. The paddle-wheels were fitted and everything burnable was used. On reaching port ballast was sold to buy supplies of food and coal. She sailed again, despite bad weather. On 23 November 1860 she reached Wellington. After refitting, Alexander Brown look her to Lyttelton for the "rush" to Gabriel's Gully in 1861, and ran Dunedin-Taieri. In 1862 she was bought by Edwards & Co to for Nelson-Blenheim, later becoming part of Anchor. 30 September 1886 wreck on a rock at the Beef Barrels, Nelson. The captain was found not to be at fault.
 * Maid of the Avon
 * 1866
 * 12
 * 10
 * Paddle
 * River
 * High pressure
 * 1866 laid up, 1868 dismantled at Lyttelton.
 * Manaia
 * 1874
 * Holmes Brothers, North Shore
 * 87
 * 30 hp
 * Paddle
 * Launched on 14 September 1874, with engines from Challenger. 100.2 ft long, 15.3 ft wide x 6.2 ft deep.
 * Manawata
 * 1873
 * Auckland
 * 103
 * Paddle
 * Built for New Zealand Steamship Co.
 * Maori
 * 1868
 * Blackwood & Gordon, Castle Yard, Port Glasgow
 * 174
 * 60 hp
 * Screw
 * Launched in June 1868 144.0 ft x 19.1 ft x 9.2 ft C2cyl (27-20") single screw, first registered on 6 August 1868 at Port Glasgow. 1869 James Mills as Harbour Steamship Co, then 1875 Union, 1884 Martin Kennedy (Brunner Coal Co), Greymouth, 1888 Union, 1902 George Dunnett, Auckland, 1904 Henderson & Macfarlane, Auckland., 1907 Samoa Shipping & Trading Co Ltd, Auckland. 1913 sank at moorings at Saluafata Harbour, Samoa. Register not closed until 1926. 1942 wreck bombed by US aircraft in mistake for Japanese submarine.
 * Maori Chief
 * 1866
 * 15
 * 26
 * Paddle
 * River
 * Non-condensing
 * Built as an iron stern wheel steamer in Leith, and reassembled in Onehunga in 1865 by George Hodge for Ralph Simpson, she measured 78 x 11 feet and was powered by a 25hp engine before being converted to a 35hp sidewheel paddle steamer in 1868. She was broken up in 1884.
 * McGregor
 * 1872
 * John  Kay, Kirkcaldy
 * 2000
 * 350 hp
 * Built  for  China  trade  350ft x 36ft, cylinders  80in and 46 in, 4ft. 2in. stroke, compound  engines, 4 boilers, 60lb pressure, 4-bladed propeller 13ft. 6in. diameter. Ran in 'Frisco mail service.
 * Midge
 * 1866
 * 56
 * 24
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * During the invasion of the Waikato, Ant and Midge were used in operations and carrying stores, with a 12-pounder gun, 4.4 in. brass Cohorn mortar and 7 men.
 * Moa
 * 1864
 * B. Phillips, Lyttelton
 * 47
 * 25 hp
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Moa_ablaze_off_Whanganui_in_1914.jpg
 * Built  for  China  trade  350ft x 36ft, cylinders  80in and 46 in, 4ft. 2in. stroke, compound  engines, 4 boilers, 60lb pressure, 4-bladed propeller 13ft. 6in. diameter. Ran in 'Frisco mail service.
 * Midge
 * 1866
 * 56
 * 24
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * During the invasion of the Waikato, Ant and Midge were used in operations and carrying stores, with a 12-pounder gun, 4.4 in. brass Cohorn mortar and 7 men.
 * Moa
 * 1864
 * B. Phillips, Lyttelton
 * 47
 * 25 hp
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Moa_ablaze_off_Whanganui_in_1914.jpg
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Moa_ablaze_off_Whanganui_in_1914.jpg

1864-1914 Moa
Moa was an iron screw, cargo steamer, 76.7 ft long, 18.2 ft wide x 6.4 ft deep, registered at Lyttelton by George Hutchinson in 1864, owned by Wellington & Wanganui Steam Packet Company. Her engines were by Muir & Houston, Glasgow. She caught fire off Whanganui in 1914, when carrying boxes of oil. One seaman died when a box exploded.
 * Moutoa
 * 60
 * 16
 * Paddle
 * River
 * High pressure
 * Paddle
 * River
 * High pressure

1865–70 Moutoa
103 feet long, 14 feet broad, 3 feet 6 inches loaded draught, 2 feet 6 inches light, with 2 single high pressure engines of 20 horse-power. The 79grt wooden ship was built 1865 at Port Waikato In 1868 she began running between Nelson and Richmond. She was damaged in 1869 and laid up until sold for her engine to power a flax mill in 1870. launched 3 November 1870 by Niccol & Son at the North Shore to run between Napier and Poverty Bay with 60lb high-pressure engines by Masefield & Co. cabin accommodation for about 10. The direct-acting inverted cylinders, of 11.5in. bore, 16in stroke. Napier left for Napier Waiwera, to call for J. Watt, of Watt, Brothers.
 * Mullough
 * 1855
 * Belfast
 * 41
 * 15
 * Screw
 * River
 * High pressure
 * Lighter registered by G Holmes and J D Macpherson at Lyttelton in 1860.
 * Murray
 * 1859
 * Thomas B Seath & Co, Rutherglen
 * 81
 * 25 hp
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Built as Cromwell. Renamed in 1861. Sank in Sydney in 1917.
 * Napier
 * 1870
 * Auckland
 * 65
 * 24 hp
 * Screw
 * 92.2 ft long, 15.3 ft wide x 6.6 ft deep Turnbull.
 * 24 hp
 * Screw
 * 92.2 ft long, 15.3 ft wide x 6.6 ft deep Turnbull.
 * 92.2 ft long, 15.3 ft wide x 6.6 ft deep Turnbull.
 * 92.2 ft long, 15.3 ft wide x 6.6 ft deep Turnbull.
 * Nelson
 * 1853
 * John Reid & Co Port Glasgow
 * 330
 * 50
 * Screw
 * Screw

1854-79 Nelson
Nelson was given a £12,000 subsidy by the provinces, £4,000 from Auckland, £2,000 from Canterbury and £3,000 each from Wellington and Nelson. She was a brig rigged, iron steamer, built for Henry Willis & Co. She could carry 42 passengers and 100 tons of freight and steam at 9 knots. She reached Nelson on 5 March 1854, where her screw was reattached, after sailing there. She ran between Dunedin and Onehunga via New Plymouth, Nelson, Wellington and Lyttelton. She returned to London on 6 August 1855 to transport troops to Crimea, and was replaced by Zingari. Nelson was still on Lloyd's Register in 1879 at St Petersburg, as Alexander II.
 * Nelson
 * 1863
 * 88
 * 50
 * Paddle
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * 12 October 1868 stranded at Whanganui due to a rope fouling her paddle wheel. In 1864 she was stranded at Hokitika and then in September at Greymouth. She returned to Nelson in May 1865.
 * Novelty
 * 1863
 * Sydney
 * 53
 * 30
 * Paddle
 * River
 * High pressure
 * Lighter at Lyttelton. 82.5 ft long, 15.5 ft wide x 5.3 ft deep. In 1864 she was registered in Auckland by E Richardson.
 * Oberon
 * A 25hp 74 ton, screw, steamer, 6.5 feet draft, brought from Tasmania in 1859. 22 July 1861 stranded at Bluff, but was repaired and renamed Guiding Star. She was wrecked on 27 September 1862, after hitting a rock at Invercargill and then being beached.
 * Omeo
 * 1858
 * Andrew Leslie & Co, Hebburn
 * 732
 * 120 hp
 * Screw
 * A 25hp 74 ton, screw, steamer, 6.5 feet draft, brought from Tasmania in 1859. 22 July 1861 stranded at Bluff, but was repaired and renamed Guiding Star. She was wrecked on 27 September 1862, after hitting a rock at Invercargill and then being beached.
 * Omeo
 * 1858
 * Andrew Leslie & Co, Hebburn
 * 732
 * 120 hp
 * Screw
 * 1858
 * Andrew Leslie & Co, Hebburn
 * 732
 * 120 hp
 * Screw

1858-1905 Omeo
Launched on 11 August 1858 for McMeckan, Blackwood, 212 ft long, 30.3 ft wide x 16.5 ft deep, 2-cylinder engines by R Morrison & Co, Ouseburn, single screw, rigged as a barque, 1858 fitted with a lifting screw so she could be used as a pure sailing ship, in 1859 she laid a Victoria-Tasmania cable,  and made her first visit to Port Chalmers on 29 December 1860. 1867 passenger accommodation extended, 1880 sold to Nipper & See, Sydney, September 1880 to William Howard Smith, Melbourne, 1881 converted to a 4 masted Jackass-barque for cargo only, 5 October 1881 destroyed Swan Spit Lighthouse, near West Channel Pile Light, 31 October 1895 blown ashore whilst loading at Hamelin Bay, 17 March 1896 refloated and converted to a coal hulk for Connor & Doherty, Freemantle, 11 September 1905 blown ashore and wrecked at Coogee Beach.
 * Osprey
 * 1868
 * Wellington
 * 32
 * 15
 * Paddle
 * 63.2 ft long, 10.4 ft wide x 5.9 ft deep. In 1870 she was registered in Wellington by A G Fell.
 * Otago
 * 1863
 * J G Lawrie, Glasgow
 * 977
 * 150 hp
 * Screw
 * J G Lawrie, Glasgow
 * 977
 * 150 hp
 * Screw

1863-1876 Otago
Launched on 29 August 1863 at the Park Yard as a 645 grt, single screw ship, with a 2-cylinder (42",42"x36") engine by Blackwood & Gordon for IRMSP, who registered her in London on 28 October 1863. In 1872 she was 745grt and sold to Thomas Underwood, Melbourne and registered in Hong Kong, In 1873 she was 236 ft long, 26.7 ft wide x 15.5 ft deep and registered in Melbourne by A G Fell. On 4 December 1876 she crashed into Chasland's Mistake, Foveaux Strait, in fog. She was carrying boxes of gold for the Union Bank, Melbourne. Her second mate's certificate was suspended for 2 years, though the decision was controversial.
 * Paterson
 * 1854
 * Scott & Co., Greenock
 * 326
 * 120 hp
 * Paddle
 * Paddle

1854-74 Paterson
Launched on 21 December 1854 from the Cartsdyke East yard for Hunter River New Steam Navigation Co, Sydney who registered her on 27 June 1855. 155.0 ft 	20.8 ft 	10.2 ft 2cyl oscillating 42"x48" by Macnab & Clark, Greenock 13knots. 7/1871 sold to W Summerbell & partners - mng J & A Brown, used mainly as a tug and collier at Newcastle, 2/6/1872 sprang a leak (Newcastle for Sydney), put back and beached at Stockton, 11/1872 sold to A Kennedy, Australia (for Brogden & Sons) and refitted at Australasian Steam Navigation Co's Pyrmont Works - 412grt 260nrt 300dwt, 156.8 x 23.2 x 10.7ft, draft 8.6ft. 1/1874 James Billing, Wellington. She served Lyttelton-Wellington-Napier-Tauranga in 1874. Wrecked 13/07/1874 on North Spit, inside the Waitara River bar, with railway equipment. No lives lost. 15/7/1874 abandoned, 27/7/1874 wreck sold to the underwriters for £3300. To be raised by Go-Ahead, 3/8/1874 wreck broke in two, blocking the channel, 7/1876 wreck dynamited, after lengthy legal proceedings over who was responsible for clearance, though part is still visible. Albert Yard, Dumbarton,
 * Peninsula
 * 1863
 * Otago
 * 42
 * 20 hp
 * Paddle
 * River
 * High pressure
 * Dunedin in 1868. 85.3 ft long, 12.4 ft wide x 5.2 ft deep. In 1870 she was registered in Dunedin by Otago Province.
 * Persevere
 * 1866
 * 27
 * 25 hp
 * Paddle
 * River
 * High pressure
 * Built 1865. Lighter at Hokitika.
 * Phœbe
 * 1851
 * Alexander Denny,
 * Phœbe
 * 1851
 * Alexander Denny,
 * Alexander Denny,
 * 613
 * 120 hp
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure

1869-78 Phoebe
First survey made in Sydney Phoebe 650 tons, she operated a monthly service between Onehunga and Bluff, via New Plymouth, Nelson, Picton, Wellington, Lyttelton and Port Chalmers. The voyage was slated to commence on the 24th of each month, reaching Bluff on the 5th of the following month, and commencing the northbound voyage next day, to arrive at Onehunga on the 17th of the month.

Phoebe, an iron screw steamer of 397 tons, 5 bulk heads, formerly on the Cape of Good Hope mail service, and 1863 from Bermuda. 172.9 ft long, 26 ft wide x 15.6 ft deep. In 1870 she was registered in Wellington by Union.

launched 2 August 1851 completed 1 September 1851 for Patrick Brenan & Co, Liverpool, trading as Preston & Co. Iron, 3 Masts, 585 grt, later 613 grt, 2cy jet-condensing engine by Tulloch & Denny, Dumbarton. 1856 P Brennan, Waterford, 1857 Union Steamship Co, Southampton, 1861 Zachariah Pearson, London, 1862 IRMSP, London, 1864 Panama, New Zealand & Australia Royal Mail Steam Packet Co, London, 1869 Thomas Henderson (Circular Saw Line), Auckland, 1869 John Martin (New Zealand Steam Shipping Co), Wellington, 1876 Union, 1878 J & A Brown, Newcastle NSW, 1901 Einerson & Jorgensen, Sydney, 1901 hulked, 1904 Broken up at Sydney.
 * Pioneer
 * Pioneer

1863-66 Pioneer
Pioneer was a 3-masted fore-and-aft schooner, designed to pull up to 400 soldiers in barges, built in about 17 weeks for £9,500, as an iron gunboat for the Invasion of the Waikato, and launched at the Australian Steam Navigation Company, Pyrmont shipyard on 16 July 1863. She was 140 ft. (or 153) x 20 ft., 8 ft. 6 in. depth of hold, drew 2 ft. 6 in., could carry 300, had watertight compartments, sliding keels, one forward, one aft, a 12 ft. diameter, 7 ft. broad stern wheel, driven by 2 x 30hp engines, boilers 54 ft. forward of the engines to keep her on an even keel, a 20 ton coal bunker, a commander's station, in a turret above the engine-room, and a flush deck, with 2 x 12 ft. diameter, 8 ft. high cupolas, pierced for rifles and 24-pounder howitzers. Francis Dillon Bell represented the Government on her 1 mile 150 yards trial from Fort Denison to Bradleys Head, in 8 minutes 12 seconds out and 6 minutes 53 seconds back, at nearly 9 knots, at 32 revolutions per minute, 60 lb. pressure and with low coal consumption. For the trip to New Zealand the stern wheel was removed, and 3 masts set with sails. She left Sydney on 22 September 1863, towed by HMS Eclipse, carrying 60 cases shot and shell, 600 for 24-pounder cartridges, 1,000 tubes, 10,000 Terry's rifle cartridges, 12,000 caps, and 18,000 revolver-cartridges, reaching Onehunga on 3 October, where she had 3/8 in. plates added to protect her from bullets. On 24 October Eclipse towed her and 4 armoured barges, with 2 companies of seamen from HMS Curaçoa, to the Waikato. On 29 October shots were exchanged at Whangamarino, but there was no damage. On 31 October she landed 661 men and 2 x 12-pounder Armstrong guns at Rangiriri. On 20 November 300 were landed to attack the rear of the Māori trenches, though wind and current stopped Pioneer and Avon reaching the landing-place. She was wrecked on 24 December 1866 on Manukau Harbour bar, when she drifted from her moorings.
 * Pirate
 * 1848
 * 280
 * Melbourne to Dunedin 1859. She was used in the Mediterranean and first arrived in Auckland on 28 December 1854.
 * Planet
 * 47 ton paddle steamer grounded on 21 March 1863 in the Taieri River.
 * Pretty Jane
 * 1870
 * Lanark
 * 134
 * 35 hp
 * Screw
 * 112.6 ft long, 20.1 ft wide x 6.8 ft deep. In 1874 she was registered by Auckland Steam Packet Co. Ltd.
 * Pride of the Yarra
 * 1856
 * McDougall
 * 25
 * 16 hp
 * 47 ton paddle steamer grounded on 21 March 1863 in the Taieri River.
 * Pretty Jane
 * 1870
 * Lanark
 * 134
 * 35 hp
 * Screw
 * 112.6 ft long, 20.1 ft wide x 6.8 ft deep. In 1874 she was registered by Auckland Steam Packet Co. Ltd.
 * Pride of the Yarra
 * 1856
 * McDougall
 * 25
 * 16 hp
 * Pride of the Yarra
 * 1856
 * McDougall
 * 25
 * 16 hp

1859-63 Pride of the Yarra
Built for £2,250 in 1856 on the Yarra an iron vessel, 2 engines by Dow, drawing about 4 feet when loaded, 75 ft length, 10 miles an hour and served the Williamstown-Sandridge route. In 1859 she arrived at Dunedin from Melbourne, in two halves on the Pirate, to be the first Otago Harbour steam ferry. She was renamed New Era and had a trial trip on 9 April 1859. During the first year her boiler leaked and put the fires out, so she sank on a bank. She was raised and given a new boiler. Ownership was transferred from James McAndrew to Frederic Greer in 1860. She ran between Dunedin and Port Chalmers until rammed and sunk by Favorite on 4 July 1863, when 12 died.
 * Prince Albert
 * Prince Albert 1860
 * Prince Alfred
 * 1861
 * Adelaide
 * 110
 * 60 hp
 * Paddle
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Prince Alfred
 * 1861
 * Adelaide
 * 110
 * 60 hp
 * Paddle
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Low pressure

1861–88 Prince Alfred
163grt 118 x 21.6 ft Built of wood. In 1864 she stranded on Whanganui beach. Thomas Higgie purchased her, repaired and refitted her, loaded her with cattle for the troops in Auckland and sold them to the Government Commissariat, who bought her for £4,000. She was sold in 1865, in 1866, and was converted to a 3-masted barque, or schooner, in 1867, though a drawing showed her with 2 masts, when she was at Onehunga wharf in 1867. She changed management again in 1870, 1876 and ended trading in February 1884, when she became a coal hulk though was only towed to Dunedin in November. She burnt to the waterline in 1888.

A 1200 ton IRMSP steamer sailed Sydney-Nelson-New Plymouth-Onehunga in February 1859 to start the UK-Suez-Australia-New Zealand monthly mail steamers.
 * Queen
 * 1852
 * 177
 * 70 hp
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure

1858-67 Queen
Queen was the first steamer on Dunedin's coastal trade from 27 August 1858, when she started regular trips to Wellington. She became a NZSN ship in 1863, but sank in deep water after hitting Cook's Rock on 5 April 1867. All 21 crew and 8 passengers survived in lifeboats. Wreck caused by a local deviation of compasses.
 * Rangatira
 * 1863
 * Gourlay Brothers, Dundee
 * 227
 * 50 hp
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Low pressure

1863- Rangatira
NZSN bought her for £11,000 in 1863, draft 8.5ft, 144.8 ft long, 20.6 ft wide x 9.7 ft deep. 2 direct acting engines, 10 knots. cabins for 22. In 1864 she served Onehunga, Raglan, Taranaki, Wanganui, and Wellington. In 1866 she was registered in Wellington by NZSS. 1872 wrecked at Puketapu, where part is still visible.
 * Rangiriri
 * Rangiriri

1864- Rangiriri
A paddle steamer prefabricated at the P.N. Russell & Co. foundry in Sydney, assembled at Port Waikato and launched on 22 April 1864. The first of the military settlers landed from the Rangiriri at Hamilton on 24 August 1864. Waikato Steam Navigation (WSN) valued her at £1,800 in 1878. By 1885 WSN was losing money due to railway competition and had been wound up by 1886. Rangiriri was still a WSN asset when the company was liquidated in 1889, she ran aground in 1889, was lifted from the riverbed in 1981, pulled further up in 1982 and restored at Hamilton's Memorial Park in 2010. Her length was 90 ft, breadth 20 ft and speed 6 knot.
 * Rangitoto
 * 1864
 * Lawrie & Co., Whiteinch, Glasgow
 * 448
 * 140 hp
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Launched 15 December 1864. Usually surveyed in Melbourne. Examined, and certificate extended in April 1867 after stranding at Bluff.
 * Rapid
 * Rapid
 * Rapid

1860- Rapid
Rapid 1860
 * Result
 * 1872
 * Auckland
 * 21
 * 10 hp
 * Paddle
 * 59.8 ft long, 12.7 ft wide x 4.5 ft deep. In 1872 she was registered in Auckland by S Riley.
 * Result
 * 1874
 * Auckland
 * 28
 * 23 hp
 * Screw
 * 60 ft long, 13.1 ft wide x 6 ft deep. In 1874 she was registered in Napier by W Baxter.
 * Rob Roy
 * 199
 * 50
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * recent arrival in 1868
 * Rotorua
 * Rowena
 * 1872
 * Auckland
 * 108
 * 30 hp
 * Paddle
 * Low pressure
 * recent arrival in 1868
 * Rotorua
 * Rowena
 * 1872
 * Auckland
 * 108
 * 30 hp
 * Paddle
 * Rowena
 * 1872
 * Auckland
 * 108
 * 30 hp
 * Paddle
 * Auckland
 * 108
 * 30 hp
 * Paddle

1872-1906 Rowena
In 1872 she was registered in Auckland by D B Cruikshank and went on to become one of the first in the NSS fleet.
 * Royal Alfred
 * 1868
 * Auckland
 * 89
 * 60
 * Paddle
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Running to Shortland, Thames.
 * Samson
 * 1854
 * J G Lawrie, Glasgow
 * 181
 * 70 hp
 * Paddle
 * 70 hp
 * Paddle

1854-81 Samson
150 ft long, 17.6 ft wide x 8.3 ft deep. In 1872 she was registered in Dunedin by J Mills and other Union shareholders. launched 13 December 1853 at the Clydeholm Yard, left Greenock on 4 May 1854, 145 grt, 120 ft x 17.2 ft, with a 2-cylinder (30"x36") oscillating engine by Thomas Wingate & Co., Glasgow for ASN, Sydney, 1861 lengthened, 176grt, 1866 Gippsland Steam Navigation Co, Melbourne, 1871 Charles Clark, Auckland, 1871 John S Macfarlane, Auckland, 1872 Union 181grt, 1878 E Jones & W L Newman, Wellington, 1878 West Wanganui Coal Co Ltd, Wellington. Wrecked 23 July 1881 on South Beach, Waitara River, refloated but holed on the wreck of ps Paterson and became total loss.
 * Scotchman
 * 1874
 * Auckland
 * 42
 * 10 hp
 * Screw
 * 65.1 ft long, 14.5 ft wide x 6.7 ft deep. In 1874 she was registered in Auckland by John Lamb.
 * Scotia
 * 1864 wrecked at Bluff.
 * Sir Donald
 * 1874
 * Auckland
 * 43
 * 14 hp
 * Screw
 * 63.8 ft long, 17 ft wide x 5.9 ft deep. In 1874 she was registered in Napier by Kinross & Co.
 * Southern Cross
 * 1872
 * Auckland
 * 95
 * 40 hp
 * Screw
 * 96.5 ft long, 15.7 ft wide x 7.4 ft deep. In 1872 she was registered in Auckland by J S Macfarlane.
 * Southern Cross
 * 1873
 * South Shields
 * 263
 * 50 hp
 * Screw
 * 135.2 ft long, 23.7 ft wide x 9 ft deep. In 1874 she was registered in Auckland by Auckland Steam Packet Co Ltd.
 * Southern Cross
 * 1874
 * Auckland
 * 149
 * 24 hp
 * Screw
 * 107.1 ft long, 21.2 ft wide x 11.8 ft deep. In 1874 she was registered in Auckland by R. H. Codrington & J R Selwin.
 * Southland
 * 1866
 * 87
 * 80
 * Paddle
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Bought from Southland Province.
 * St Kilda
 * 1873
 * Glasgow
 * 231
 * 40 hp
 * Screw
 * 122.3 ft long, 21.4 ft wide x 10.2 ft deep. In 1873 she was registered in Auckland by G. T. Lethbridge.
 * Star of the Evening
 * 166
 * 60
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Wrecked in Poverty Bay near East Cape on 13 February 1867, probably due to a local compass error. 6 died, 16 survived.
 * Star of the South
 * 1863
 * Newcastle
 * 235
 * 45 hp
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * 134.2 ft long, 21.8 ft wide x 9.2 ft deep. In 1872 she was registered in Auckland by Auckland Steam Packet Co Ltd. Auckland-Russell-Napier. Broke her back when she ran ashore in fog 4 miles south of Napier on 23 June 1870.
 * Stormbird
 * 1854
 * Lawrie & Co., Whiteinch, Glasgow
 * 67
 * 30 hp
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Screw
 * 122.3 ft long, 21.4 ft wide x 10.2 ft deep. In 1873 she was registered in Auckland by G. T. Lethbridge.
 * Star of the Evening
 * 166
 * 60
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Wrecked in Poverty Bay near East Cape on 13 February 1867, probably due to a local compass error. 6 died, 16 survived.
 * Star of the South
 * 1863
 * Newcastle
 * 235
 * 45 hp
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * 134.2 ft long, 21.8 ft wide x 9.2 ft deep. In 1872 she was registered in Auckland by Auckland Steam Packet Co Ltd. Auckland-Russell-Napier. Broke her back when she ran ashore in fog 4 miles south of Napier on 23 June 1870.
 * Stormbird
 * 1854
 * Lawrie & Co., Whiteinch, Glasgow
 * 67
 * 30 hp
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * 1854
 * Lawrie & Co., Whiteinch, Glasgow
 * 67
 * 30 hp
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure

1854-1916 Stormbird
Launched in May 1854. 110 grt / 76 nrt / 106.0 ft 18.0 ft 7.9 ft Engine builder J G Lawrie, Glasgow 2cyl (20", 20" x 33"), 9 June 1854 McCallum, Graham & Black, Glasgow, Australian Direct Steam Navigation Co, 1857 David Turnbull, John Wilkinson and George Hedley (Port Albert Steam Navigation Co), Gippsland, Victoria - reg Melbourne, 1860 Johnny Jones, Dunedin - reg Dunedin, c1864 William McLeod Bannatyne, Wellington, 1870 Isaac Freeth, Westport, 1871 Henry Houghton, Dunedin, 1873 Walter Turnbull, Wellington, 1878 The New Zealand Steam Shipping Co Ltd, Wellington, 1882 Charles Seagar, Wellington, 1902 Wellington & Wanganui Steam Packet Co Ltd, Wellington. by 1857 96grt 67nrt, 1875 98grt 69nrt, 1884 lengthened and re-engined 217grt 137nrt, 130.3 x 19.6 x 8.8ft, 1-screw Robertson & Co, Wellington C2cyl 16",32"x18" 40nhp, 1900 217grt 129nrt. In 1888 she was running a weekly Queen Street Wharf -Whangārei-Russell-Whangaroa-Mangōnui service for Jubilee Steamship.

She and Wonga Wonga were to run as tenders for Sovereign and Prince of Wales, which were to have run between Melbourne and Panama. Stormbird sailed for 116 days to Hobson's Bay for some time in the Melbourne-Westport trade, she came to New Zealand in the early 1860s for coastal work. In 1865 there were 60 steamers. 433 coastal ships were registered in 1915, 104,356 net tons total, and 5,487 seamen and probably another 12, of 12,000 tons were not on that register.

In 1902 she had a major refit, including new engines, boiler, bridge and funnel.

Stormbird was wrecked on the south mole of Whanganui harbour on 3 September 1916, on the opposite side of the river from the wreck site of Charles Edward (see above), 8 years earlier. 3 of her crew were drowned. She was then the oldest ship in use.
 * Sturt
 * 1857
 * Adelaide
 * 157
 * PS_Sturt_in_1867.jpg
 * PS_Sturt_in_1867.jpg
 * PS_Sturt_in_1867.jpg
 * PS_Sturt_in_1867.jpg
 * PS_Sturt_in_1867.jpg
 * PS_Sturt_in_1867.jpg

1863–70 Sturt
Built 1856, or 1857 in Adelaide of iron originally shipped to India in 1851. Bought by Nelson & Marlborough Steam Navigation Co in 1863. Able to steam at 10.5mph. 157grt 137 x 23 ft Wrecked 1870 Waimakariri River bar. A lead cannonball fired by Sturt is in Mōkau Museum.
 * Takapuna
 * 1872
 * Auckland
 * 76
 * 20 hp
 * Paddle
 * 90.2 ft long, 16.2 ft wide x 4.1 ft deep. In 1873 she was registered by the Auckland & N Shore Steam Ferry Co Ltd.
 * Tairoa
 * 1866
 * 51
 * 30
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * High pressure
 * Dunedin in 1868.
 * Taranaki
 * 1865
 * Blackwood & Gordon, Castle Yard, Port Glasgow
 * 415
 * 90 hp
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Blackwood & Gordon, Castle Yard, Port Glasgow
 * 415
 * 90 hp
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure

1865-78 Taranaki
A 2-masted, iron, screw steamer launched on 16 October 1865 for NZSN 415 grt / 298 nrt 1-screw London 22/11/1865, 1871 New Zealand Steam Shipping Co, Wellington. 1876 Union. 29 November 1878 wrecked in fog on Karewa Island, where her boiler remains. The 75 passengers landed on the island. She had previously sunk on Boat Harbour Rock (now called Taranaki Rock), at the entrance to Tory Channel / Kura Te Au, on 19 August 1868, but had been taken over by the Union Company and raised and refitted in September 1869. The Court of Inquiry found that the captain should have taken depth soundings and charged him the court costs, but didn't suspend him. However, as the captain was popular for introducing regular shipping calls at Tauranga he was given a presentation of appreciation a few weeks later. The channel between the island and Matakana is about 11 fathom deep. She linked Onehunga with New Plymouth, Nelson, Picton, Wellington, Lyttelton and Dunedin. For 6 months she ran a Manukau to Bluff monthly Government mail service from June 1866 for NZSN.
 * Tararua
 * 1864
 * Gourlay Brothers, Dundee
 * 522
 * 155
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Low pressure

1865-81 Tararua
arrived March 1865 wrecked April 1881 at Waipapa Point.
 * Tasmanian Maid
 * 1866
 * Richardson Duck & Co, Stockton on Tees
 * 53
 * 36
 * Paddle
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Low pressure

1857-68 Tasmanian Maid
From 1857 a subsidy was given by Nelson Province to run the 83 ton paddle steamer Tasmanian Maid, bought for £5,600, when she arrived on 17 June 1857. She serviced Motueka, Collingwood, Blenheim and Wellington. She was wrecked off New Plymouth on 16 January 1868. Stormbird rescued all her passengers and crew. The engine, paddle wheels and pipes remain, about 10 metres below the surface.

She was renamed Sandfly  then back to Tasmanian Maid. 108.9 x 15.7 ft Built 1856 in York of iron.

HMS Tasmanian Maid - an 85 ton paddle steamer built in South Stockton, Yorkshire, in 1856 which, like "Caroline", was engaged as a despatch boat during the Taranaki Maori Land Wars
 * Tauranga
 * 1866
 * 67
 * 40
 * Twin Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Thane
 * 118
 * 1858 collier wrecked on 21 September 1866 at Greymouth due to engine failure.
 * Titan
 * 1866
 * Glasgow
 * 97
 * 55 hp
 * Screw
 * 95.6 ft long, 17.4 ft wide x 8.8 ft deep. In 1873 she was registered in Lyttelton by the Westland Steam Tug & Freight Co Ltd.
 * Titania
 * Robinson & Lily moved her from Launceston to cover the Dunedin-Invercargill route when Oberon was stranded. She was wrecked on Hokitika bar in 1868.
 * Tongariro
 * 1872
 * Whanganui
 * 42
 * 14 hp
 * Paddle
 * 75.8 ft long, 15.5 ft wide x 5.9 ft deep. In 1872 she was registered in Wellington by Irvine & Drummond.
 * Tuapeka
 * 1866
 * 24
 * 60
 * Stern Wheel
 * River
 * High pressure
 * on the Clutha River.
 * Victoria
 * On March 28 1863 the steamers Wakatip and Victoria arrived to service the Nokomai gold rush. Paddle steamer Wakatip was built at the islands, had a 6.5 knot average speed, seated 40 passengers, but 212 miners going to the gold rush boarded one day. On 16 May 1850, Victoria, from Melbourne came on Reinau Engelkus. She was about 70ft long, slightly smaller than New Era. For a time all went well, till trade fell. The 60-passenger Mariner competed with her. Victoria, from the Yarra River, ran on Otago Harbour before being cut up and transported to Lake Wakatipu. For safety a wooden fence was added to her. Possibly Victoria was renamed Venus.
 * Waihopai
 * 1866
 * 30
 * 16
 * Twin Screw
 * Sea-going
 * High pressure
 * New boat, built at Invercargill, now laid up
 * Waikato
 * 1873
 * Onehunga
 * 90
 * 20 hp
 * Paddle
 * 96.8 ft long, 16 ft wide x 6.5 ft deep. In 1873 she was registered in Auckland by Waikato Steam Navigation and Coal Mining Co Ltd.
 * Wainui
 * 1866
 * 87
 * 25
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Dunedin-Lyttelton. Sunk in Port Chalmers harbour on 22 January 1870.
 * Waiomio
 * 1867
 * Peter Dixon, Russell
 * Paddle
 * River
 * Flat bottomed tug, built for and to the design of John McLeod. to tow barges of Kawakawa coal from Taumarere to Opua. Probably replaced by Black Diamond in 1873.
 * Waipa
 * 1864
 * Onehunga
 * 38
 * 25 hp
 * Paddle
 * River
 * Non-condensing
 * 30
 * 16
 * Twin Screw
 * Sea-going
 * High pressure
 * New boat, built at Invercargill, now laid up
 * Waikato
 * 1873
 * Onehunga
 * 90
 * 20 hp
 * Paddle
 * 96.8 ft long, 16 ft wide x 6.5 ft deep. In 1873 she was registered in Auckland by Waikato Steam Navigation and Coal Mining Co Ltd.
 * Wainui
 * 1866
 * 87
 * 25
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Dunedin-Lyttelton. Sunk in Port Chalmers harbour on 22 January 1870.
 * Waiomio
 * 1867
 * Peter Dixon, Russell
 * Paddle
 * River
 * Flat bottomed tug, built for and to the design of John McLeod. to tow barges of Kawakawa coal from Taumarere to Opua. Probably replaced by Black Diamond in 1873.
 * Waipa
 * 1864
 * Onehunga
 * 38
 * 25 hp
 * Paddle
 * River
 * Non-condensing
 * Flat bottomed tug, built for and to the design of John McLeod. to tow barges of Kawakawa coal from Taumarere to Opua. Probably replaced by Black Diamond in 1873.
 * Waipa
 * 1864
 * Onehunga
 * 38
 * 25 hp
 * Paddle
 * River
 * Non-condensing
 * River
 * Non-condensing

1866-81 Waipa
Built in 1864 by David Hutchinson, Onehunga, she was sold to the Waikato Steam Navigation & Coal Mining Co Ltd of Ngaruawahia 6 years later, and broken up in 1881. 66 ft long, 16.2 ft wide x 4.7 ft deep. In 1864 she was registered in Auckland by Waikato Steam Navigation and Coal Mining Co Ltd.
 * Waipara
 * 1863
 * Harland & Wolff, Belfast
 * 90
 * 30 hp
 * Twin Screw
 * Sea-going
 * High pressure
 * High pressure

1863-98 Waipara
Replaced Gundagai on the Patea trade in August 1866, but was on the west coast in 1868. She was launched in October 1863, for the Kaiapoi and Saltwater Creek Steam Navigation Company. She was an iron steamer, 80 feet long, 16 feet beam and 6 feet draught, 90.3 ft long, 16 ft wide x 7 ft deep. In 1866 she was registered in Lyttelton by C. S. Buscand. She had 2 engines of 30hp by Rowan & Sons, left Belfast on 28 November 1863 and Cobh on 10 December, mostly using her schooner-rigged sails and with a false keel, which was taken off on arrival. She took 152 days via Trinadad and Cape of Good Hope, including 2 days of a hurricane, arriving at Lyttelton on 11 May 1864. On her first trip to Kaiapoi, in August, 1864 she was welcomed to Beswick and Birch’s wharf. On the next trip the Waimakariri bar was rough and she ran aground on a bend in the river, but was floated off next day. Her first visit to Saltwater Creek was celebrated in October 1864. The company went into liquidation, so Waipara moved to the West Coast, where she was ashore in the Grey River in January 1877 and June 1882, on the north spit of Hokitika River in 1865, April 1893 and May 1894, on the Hokitika beach while towing Moana in September 1896, again in October 1897 and finally, in January 1898, she stranded on north beach, Okarito, was declared a total wreck and she was blown up in October 1900. A hearing decided the sandbank had formed overnight.
 * Waitemata
 * 30
 * 30
 * 30
 * 30
 * 30

1864-99 Waitemata
Waitemata Steam Ferry Company's first boat was launched at Holmes' yard, North Shore on 8 December 1864, with engines by Vickery & Masefield. She was built for Waitemata Steam Ferry Co, 70 ft long, 16 ft wide x 4.10 ft deep, 32 hp, with a rudder at each end, and thus able to run backwards, or forwards at about 6 knot. In 1866 she was sold to D.D. Fremantle, then to John & James Holmes. Rebuilt and renamed No.2 Enterprise, though usually known as Enterprise No.2. 1871 sold to James Morton, 1872 to G. Fraser, J. Waymouth, J. Batger, 1873 to John & James Holmes, 1875 enlarged from 22 to 82 tons. Re-registered as Enterprise, 1877 sold to John Hay, 1878 to Auckland & North Shore Steam Ferry Co. Ltd, 1882 to Geo. Fraser, 1890 to A. McGregor, 1890 to D. Ross, H. Worsop, F. Jagger, then to NSS to serve Thames and Whangarei Harbour. In 1898 she was stripped of engines and other valuables, sold to Auckland Regatta Committee and, on 7 January 1899, Enterprise was blown up with gun cotton, off Cheltenham Beach, as a spectacular part of the regatta. On March 28 the steamers Wakatip and Victoria arrived to service the Nokomai gold rush. Paddle steamer Wakatip was built at the islands, had a 6.5 knot average speed, seated 40 passengers, but 212 miners going to the gold rush boarded one day.
 * Wakatip
 * 1863
 * launched 21 March 1863
 * launched 21 March 1863
 * launched 21 March 1863
 * launched 21 March 1863
 * launched 21 March 1863
 * launched 21 March 1863
 * launched 21 March 1863
 * launched 21 March 1863
 * Wallabi
 * 1863
 * A & J Inglis Pointhouse
 * 103
 * 25 hp
 * 25 hp

1863-1892 Wallabi
Launched 15 October 1863 for T. McArthur, Sydney Length 119.6 ft Breadth 18.0 ft Draft 6.7 ft, Anchor 1864–68, broken up June 1892. Otago Foundry, Dunedin
 * Wallace
 * 1867
 * Wilson & Sparrow,
 * Wilson & Sparrow,
 * Paddle
 * Paddle
 * Paddle

1867-85 Wallace
Launched on 12 November 1867 for the Harbour Steam Co 130 ft long, 15ft 2in broad, 8ft 2in deep, with engines from Gundagai (see above), in Anchor fleet 1872–85, wrecked at Greymouth on 14 October 1885
 * Wanganui
 * 1863
 * Gourlay Brothers, Dundee
 * 164
 * 50 hp
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Low pressure

1863-80 Wanganui

 * Wellington
 * 1863
 * Blackwood & Gordon, Castle Yard, Port Glasgow
 * 261
 * 80 hp
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * Low pressure
 * Low pressure

1864-74 Wellington
Launched 24 October 1863 for NZSN and transferred to Union in 1871. Wellington was a 100-passenger, iron, single screw, steamer, 185.5 ft x 24.6 ft x 13.2 ft, with a 2-cylinder (24 & 46 - 36in), 90 hp engine, which arrived on 3 June 1864. In 1881 she was one of the first in the NSS fleet, initially serving Tauranga-Auckland. She ran daily to Whangārei in 1900, but was laid up about 1905, after being used on the New Plymouth-Onehunga route. 1909 G. T. Niccol converted her to a hulk at Auckland. 1913 scuttled as a breakwater at Moehau, or at Whangārei.
 * White Swan
 * White Swan

1858-62 White Swan
The 335, or 322 ton steamer, from the Melbourne-Adelaide service, arrived at Nelson on 12 July 1858 and was reported to be, "a very fine boat, and well adapted for the coasting trade of New Zealand". She had direct acting 75hp engines, which drove her at 10 knots. She took 30 cabin, 90 steerage passengers and was chartered by the Government for £6,000 a year, to carry mail between Bluff, Dunedin, Lyttelton, Wellington, Napier and Auckland, in place of Zingari on the Manukau-Otago run. She arrived on the Manukau on June 22, 1858, sailing six days later following the signing of a service contract which took her through to April 1859. She was then replaced by Airedale, Lord Ashley, Lord Worsley and Prince Alfred for IRMSP. She was beached after hitting a rock south of Napier on 29 June 1862, when carrying 12 boxes of government records, being transferred from Auckland to the new capital, Wellington. Only one box was recovered. A 28.83 ton, 58.5 feet long river barge built at Onehunga in 1865 and altered to a paddle steamer a year later by owner E. Gibbons. She was sold to Nelson interests in 1867, and was wrecked at Patea on 28 February 1869 while operating for Taylor and Watt of Wanganui.
 * William Denny
 * 454
 * 200
 * Auckland-Sydney steamer William Denny, in March 1856 twice run ashore near the North Cape, stranded, and eventually wrecked.
 * William Miskin
 * 1852
 * 115
 * 30
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * High pressure
 * Ship_stranded_on_beach_at_Hokitiki,_New_Zealand(GN11785).jpg iron steamer built in England in 1852 for New South Wales Coal & Intercolonial Steam Navigation Co. (NSWC), arrived from London on 2 October 1853, though NSWC cancelled their order for sister ship, Golden Age. 28 August 1862 damaged William Miskin. Later that year Otago Provincial Council considered buying her from Melbourne and in March 1863 she began a service between Bluff and Dunedin. She was ashore on March 27 1865 at Bluff. In 1867 she was sold to Captain McKinnon for £1,500, when Dunedin Steam Shipping Co. was liquidated. She could then carry 59 passengers. She was wrecked at Timaru on Feb 4 1868, after dragging her anchors. One of the crew was drowned. A likely ex-tropical cyclone affected much of the country that day. William Henry Miskin was an Australian politician, solicitor and entomologist.
 * Woodpecker
 * 1866
 * 24
 * 8
 * Paddle
 * River
 * High pressure
 * Laid up part of year
 * Woodpecker
 * 1866
 * 24
 * 8
 * Paddle
 * River
 * High pressure
 * Laid up part of year
 * High pressure
 * Laid up part of year
 * Wonga Wonga
 * 1854
 * James & George Thomson, Govan
 * 662
 * 270 hp
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * High pressure
 * High pressure

1854-80 Wonga Wonga
James & George Thomson at Cessnock Bank, Govan, Wonga Wonga was launched on 15 May. She was a 662 grt / 444 nrt, single screw, iron steamer, with 3 masts, 207 ft 2 in long, 25 ft 3 in wide and 16 ft 7 in deep. She was built for ASN, for whom she worked from 19 February 1855. In 1868 she was enlarged to 242 ft 9 in x 27 ft 5in x 16 ft 6in, 662 grt, 270 HP engine. She was scrapped in Sydney at the end of 1880. Wonga Wonga inaugurated a monthly mail service between Melbourne and Wellington in November 1858.
 * Wonga Wonga
 * 1854
 * Lawrie & Co., Whiteinch, Glasgow
 * 151
 * 30nhp
 * Screw
 * Sea-going
 * 1854-1866_Wonga_Wonga.jpg
 * 1854-1866_Wonga_Wonga.jpg
 * 1854-1866_Wonga_Wonga.jpg

1854-66 Wonga Wonga
The same year, at another Clyde yard, a 105.7 ft x 17.9 ft x 7.9 ft Wonga Wonga was launched, with a 2 cylinder engine for McCallum, Graham & Black, Glasgow (other co-owned with Lawrie and Thomas Alexander Thomson under the firm of Lawrie & Co). first registered on 27 July 1854 6/1/1855 reg Melbourne.

Auckland Local Steam Navigation Company's Wanga Wanga iron, 108 tons, 40 horse power arrived at Melbourne on the 17 December 1854, having sailed from Greenock, under canvas, on the 11 August. The Wanga Wanga is the sister ship of the Storm Bird, launched in June 1854, Depth Moulded 9, raised quarter-deck 30 feet long, 2 vertical, or direct-acting engines, 10 knot; with canvas 12 knots, 3 cwt, coals per hour. The saloon dining 24.

In December 1854 she was bought in Melbourne for the Auckland Local Steam Navigation Company, had her first trial at Auckland on 5 March 1855 and made her first trip to Whangārei, Russell and Mangōnui on 12 March 1855.

1859 William Hickson & others, Wellington - reg Wellington.

Wrecked 02 May 1866 at Greymouth.

In March 1854 Wonga Wonga arrived after a 108-day passage from London under sail. Ran a subsidised service linking Auckland, Nelson, Wellington, Lyttelton and Dunedin. April 1865, stranded at Hokitika and, on 2 May 1866 she was wrecked on the north beach at Greymouth. Her engines were sold for £240.

Wellington Steam Navigation Co formed to buy for £3,800. 1863 Taranaki war charter. In 1863 she became a NZSN ship, serving Onehunga, Raglan and Taranaki.
 * Yarra
 * 1866
 * 32
 * 35
 * Paddle
 * River
 * High pressure
 * Lighter at Hokitika. built 1864, stranded Hokitika bar 1868.
 * Zingari
 * Lighter at Hokitika. built 1864, stranded Hokitika bar 1868.
 * Zingari
 * Zingari

1855-57 Zingari
A 200 ton, 60hp, wooden, screw, steamer, "of moderate powers, with inferior accommodation". When the Nelson contract couldn't be renewed Zingari was put on, initially for 3 months from August 1855, to run monthly from Lyttelton to Manukau, calling at Wellington, Nelson and New Plymouth. At the termination of her contract, it had been planned to start a contract for Wonga Wonga, but William Daldy arranged for her to be sold for £3,800 to NZSN, and Zingari returned to Port Phillip on 1 July 1857, as a proposal to give her a better boiler was dropped.

A 148 ton, 430hp vessel built in 1852 in Radcliffe, Cross Dock, Middlesex which provided a fortnightly service Dunedin-Onehunga July 1855-May 1857, succeeding on the run. She was built as a pleasure yacht. Oscillating cylinders were a feature of her engines. Calls to the Manukau in 1855 materialised on 3-9 July, 7-11 August, 12-18 September and on 15-19 October. On this voyage, her manifest included the entire contents of Foley's Circus - including all the animals! It was also on this voyage that she grounded slightly when crossing the Bar. On another visit, on 5 December that year, no pilot was awaiting her arrival, prompting Captain Milton to write a letter of complaint which was to come to light again after events on 10 May 1857, when "Zingari" grounded in a squall soon after entering the Manukau, remaining stuck fast until the next tide. HMS Cordelia - an eleven gun steam sloop (see separate note above), which made at least seven calls under Captain Vernon;
 * }

HMS Fawn - a sixteen gun 748 ton steam sloop built in Deptford and launched on 30 September 1856, which made at least five calls under Captain Cator;