TO BE SCRAPPED*

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 129, 2 June 1937, Page 12

TO BE SCRAPPED*

VETERAN STEAMERS

Two of New Zealand's best-known coastal steamers, the Rarawa'and the Ngapuhi, will shortly be scrapped. This decision, which will sever the last links with the former thriving One-hunga-New Plymouth passenger trade, was announced by Sir Ernest Davis, chairman of directors, at the annual meeting of the Northern Steamship Company. Ltd.. at Auckland on Monday, says the "New Zealand Herald."

Built specially for the West Coast passenger service, the Rarawa and Ngapuhi gainea a splendid tradition for their work and for more than 30 years formed the principal means of communication between Auckland and Taranaki. The Karawa, a twin-screw steamer of 1077 tons, built in Dundee in 1903 by Gourlay Brothers, has been moored off Shoal. Bay since 1929, and the Ngapuhi, a steamer of 703 tons, built in Dundee in 1930, was taken out of commission a year later. Few vessels on the New Zealand coast served longer on one run than the Rarawa, which was engaged for about 26 years in the Onehunga-New Plymouth trade. Replacing the Ngapuhi, which had been on the service for three years, the Rarawa was commissioned in 1903 and made three trips weekly until the opening, of the Main Trunk railway in 1908, after which she ran only" twice a week. The increased use of motor transport affected the West Coast service in later years. The Rarawa proved to large for the diminishing number of sea travellers and in 1929 she was brought to Auckland and replaced by the Ngapuhi, which had been engaged on East Coast services. A year later however, the Northern Company decided to withdraw from that passenger trade altogether, and the Ngapuhi was replaced by the cargo motor-vessel Hauturu, of 296 tons, which is still in the service. , , Prominent in the Northern Company's Onehunga-New Plymouth service have been Captain N. F. Norbury and Captain W. Bark. Captain Norbury was master of the Rarawa from the time she went into commissibn in 1903 until he was relieved in 1914 by Captain Bark, who continued in the service until a few years ago.