A SHIP WITH A HISTORY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1867, 29 September 1913, Page 8

A SHIP WITH A HISTORY.

DRAYTON GRANGE. The Tyrone was one of , the four similar steamers which we're purchased l from Houlder Bros, by the Union Company about 18 months ago. Her sisters are the' Limeriok, Roscommon, and Westmeath. She was a steel twin screw steamer of 6664 tons gross register, formerly known as the Drayton Grange, •and'- was built in 1901' 1 by; Workriian, < C3aVk, and Co., of Belfast. The Tyrone' was one of the vessels chartered to convey Ne>v Zealand! troops to the South African war, leaving Wellington on April 14, 1902, with the northern battalion .of the 10th Contingent. . ; , Her crew includes some firemen and trimmers who, interesting to relate, have already been wrecked once on the New- Zealand coast;this year, their last ship being the Devon. The Tyrone is a comparatively modern cteamer, though as things move in; the shipping -world these days ishe has inevitably been superseded in many particulars. Her dimensions aro. given in , Lloyd's Register as: —Length, 450 feet; | breadth, 55 feet; depth, 30 feet. | On being purchased by the Union i Company the vessel passed under the \ reconstructed Federal-Shire flag, and . has been trading to the West of Eng- • land. It has been somewhat persistently stated in, various quarters that it was the intention of the Union Com-; ,pany. to run their four purchased steam-; era to the Pacific Coast in the near future, but pronouncements from head-; quarters hare been-somewhat indefinite! on the point. ■; " '.;' " ' ' , | The Tyrone left Liverpool on July 5; for Australian and New Zealand' ports,; and left Lyttelton/,yesterday' after-.; noon with 887 tons of cargo for Dune-; din. This cargo consisted. of . whisky,-: iron, and a miscellaneous quantity of ; general merchandise. Her.'next port was to havo been the Bluff, for final discharge, and after that she was to havo passed under the guidance of the Union Company for loading.' ; A CRAVE OF SHIPS—TAIAROA HEADS. By a strange coincidence the first serious loss sustained by the Union, Company occurred at'Taiaroa Heads. It; was that of the steamer Brace, which was totally lost o.n October. 16, 1875, whilst on a voyage from Timaru to Dunedin. The first loss at these Heads was that of the bi-rquo Revival. The date ot her wreck was December, 1858, or January, 1859. _ In 1862 the barque Genevieve, bound from the Mauritius, was totally lost in the same locality, as also was. the schooner Tamar in 1862. Besides the afore-mentioned wrecks, there are numerous cases on record in which vessels have touched at Taiaroa Heads. ' ■ The first accident to a boat of the Union Line occurred on December 12, 1875, when the original Taaipo (No.. 1). was stranded at Fish Reef, which lies between Otago and Port Chalmers.