Bigger than Aorangi

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 486, 16 October 1928, Page 1

Bigger than Aorangi

RANGITIKI LAUNCHED TO ARRIVE NEXT MARCH One of three vessels ordered by the New Zealand Shipping Com- • pany, the Rangitiki, a motor-ship bigger than the Aorangi, will leave Southampton on February 15, 1929, on her maiden voyage to the Dominion. One of the most interesting motorships of the year, the Rangitiki was launched at the Clydebank yards of John Brown and Company, Limited, on August 30. She will be propelled by the most powerful two-stroke motors constructed in Great Britain. She has a length of 530 ft, with a 70ft beam, and her gross tonnage is 17,500, with a dead-weight carrying capacity of about 15,500 tons. She will have well-appointed passenger accommodation, and her spacious holds are to be refrigerated for the carriage of perish - able cargo. The propelling machinery comprises two sets of five-cylinder Brown-Sulzer oil engines, which are designed for a normal output of 9,300 s.h.p. with a maximum output of 10,000 s.h.p., the speed of the ship being between 14.5 and 15 knots. The engines are noteworthy in that they liave the largest diameter of cylinder which has yet been used in actual service. This is 900 millimetres, of 35 7-16 in, with a long stroke of 1,500 millimetres, or 4ft 11 l-16in. The speed is comparatively slow, being, about 88 to 90 r.p.m. Auxiliary oil engines will be installed for lighting and power requirements, but the injection air and scavenge air for the main engines will be supplied by direct-driven units. The Rangitiki is due in New Zealand waters about March 23 next year and will sail again on April 27 for Home.