NEW MOTOR LINER

Hokitika Guardian, 18 January 1930, Page 7

NEW MOTOR LINER

THE HANOI TATA. A REMARKABLE SHIP. I iio Rangitata, tile second oi' t!ie trio ‘•J [’Teat motor liners built lor the .\cw Zealand Shipping Company Ltd. at C Idesbauk,- has arrived at Wellington from Auckland on her maiden von go lrom England. 'I he outstanding feature of the new. liners, the third of which, the Rangitaim, is due at Wellington on Jan. t'lt.U. is the luxurious accommodation piovided for the three classes of passengers carried. One po’nt in which the Rangitata differs from the Rangitiki is that a reduction in the engine room easing has permitted the al- I lewa.vs to he made straight. There is accommodation for 110 first-class', nassengers in single and donhle-herth eahins, fitted with bedsteads, oak or walnuf dressing tables, wardrobes, settes and cane arAu hairs. There are outer cabins and Bibby cabins, arranged so Hint two may l,e turned into a suite, and there are numerous private bath-rooms, while hot and cold water is laid on to every cabin. Jho public rooms in the first class are beautifully furnished. There is ihe Adams drawing-room, with its grey-painted grand piano and soft armchairs. The casement windows overlook the entire width of a lower deck. Over the mantlepiece is a picture of the ruins of Brederode Castle, utter Jlobbem.

AX ITALIAN LOUNGE

The lounge is furnished with armchairs in shades of pink and gold. Marble pillars are let into the walls, and there is an oak grand piano. The liroihuc holds an electric fire, disguised as glowing coals, and over the mantel is a picture of ‘The Embarkation of St. Ursula,’’ after Claude. The room follows the Italian style in design as, well as decoration.

From the lounge, vestibules on either side give access to the smoke-room. Here there is an old-fashioned brick chimney-place with glowing imitation coals. ’lhe room is panelled in walnut., the tables are of oak and the armchairs are uphostered in red and gold. Doors from the smoke-room lead on to Iho vercmlah cafe and so to the sports deck. Generous deck space is provided, and at each end of “A” deck, the width is 7Gfc. about Bft. wider than the main body of the ship. There has keen no lack of care in providing for second and third-class passengers. In space and furnishings the second-class cabins are replicas of those in the first-class, except that where tlior is a single led in a firstclass compartment there is in the second class a bedstead with one bed above another; where there are two beds in a first-class cabin there are three in the second class. Again there is plenty of deck space and the public rooms include the white-paneHled lounge, the oak smoke-room and the white dining saloon, “with its tables for lour and six,

TimD-CLASS JKATCRfIS

The third-class passengers are unusually fortunate. There arc 21)0 cabins, containing two, four and six berths, and equipped with hand-basins. 'The dining room is g well-lighted, commodious apartment with tables for eight passengers each. The room is panelled in oak. Both the lounge and the smokeroom run almost for the entire width of the ship and both are comfortably furnished with sofas, upholstered seats and cane armchairs. Passengers lilive the use of two decks at the stern.

Tiii! Rangitata anil- licr sister ships have* the largest Diesel engines in the world Other shins have engines which produce a great total power, hut it is obtained with four propellers and I'onr sets with smaller hilt more numerous cylinders. The engines in the “Rang!” group of ships are twin sets with live cylinders each. Knell piston weighs -l|f tons and each piston rod 1 ton 2 cwt. A spare piston is carried and, in spite of its weight, it cun no placed in position at sea il the need arises. The refrigerating maenmwry is most elaborate. TRIBUTES FROM PASSENGERS. Well-travelled passengers who came out in the Rangitata wore loud m their praise of the ship’s behaviour. All kinds of weather was experienced and the vessel was well tested. Mr .Justice Reed, who was a. passenger, said he had been greatly impressed I,v the very luxurious accommodation and the remarkable amount of deck space available. “She is the finest vessel I have ever travelled in/ 1 lie remarked, “and I have travelled on a good many lines, including the P. and 0. Dutch and Indian steamers. They too, are luxurious, hut the Rangitala is the most comfortable- of them all.” The Rangitata has a length over all of Go.'! feet, and GGO feet between perpendiculars, and a breadth of 7(J feet, her gross registered tonnage is 18,- ().",{} tons, and she has a deadweight earring capacity of lo.GO) lons. One of the Lliree largest lines in the Lon-don-New Zealand tra'de, the Rangitata is about the same gross tonnage a.s the Aorangi, hut lias a far greater cargo ■opacity than that ship. The Rangitata is do foot longer and eight feet vidcr than (lie Rcniiiora. The now ship has six decks, known as. A, boat leek; I!, promenade deck; C, bridge leclc; D_. slielter deck; E, upper deck;^

I and F. main deck. A feature of the Rangitata and her sister ships is the extra' width given to A and B decks. The latter is “stepped out” eighteen inches on each side, giving it a total width of 73 feet, while A deck is carried out an additional 2i't. oil each side, making its total breadth 77 feet. This ilevice gives a large amount of additional open space for passengers. A deck measures about 212 feet long and 77 feet wide, and B deck about 238 feet long and 73 feet wide.,