WELLINGTON HISTORY

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 109, 11 May 1931, Page 7

WELLINGTON HISTORY

. FIRST STEEL SHIP '

■ It is not known by many Wellingtonians of the present generation that the' first steel vessel constructed is th« Southern Hemisphere was launched in Wellington Harbour nearly fifty years ago'from the site of Luke's Foundry, ia Wakefiold street. ■When speaking at the . opening of the Glydo Skating Eink on, Saturday evening, Sir John Luke said that the rink occupied the site on which the foundry was built. Tho steel vessel built at the, foundry was the Matai,' a single screw steamer of 340 tons register. From keel to bridge .the vessel was built on the site by New Zealand workmen, and in 1886,' with a full head of steam up, she was launched at Te Arc ■ Tho B ship was built for the Blackball Line, and had accommodation for saloon and second-class passengers. For many years tho Matai was on. the coastal runs. It was eventually sold to the Union SteamShip Company, but four years after passing into1 that company's hands it struck a submerged ' rock off Gisborne -and became a total wreck. One life was lost. Sir John Luke said that two or three other vessels were' built and launched on the same site. One of these boats, the s Weka, 'was launched in 1883, and was still doing service iii Napier. , Another vessel, the Tuna, was built-for a Gisborne firm. , "On this site some of tho most important engineering work in Wellington was carried out," said Sir John, "and on many occasions there wero as many as 250 men employed at once."