THE NEW ZEALAND MARITIME RECORD

The Turbo Electric Vessel
HINEMOA 1946 - 1971

The first one class Inter-Island Express steamer in the service of the Union Steam Ship Company

Hinemoa Home | Specifications | History | Gallery |

Ten of the Union Steam Ship Company's fleet were lost in the second World War.  Among them was the Niagara, which was sunk on the evening of the 19^th of June, 1941 by a mine laid just outside of Auckland Harbour.  The other ship was the beloved Awatea whose service with the company lasted only six years. The reconstruction of the fleet began with a new Inter-Island Express steamer, the Hinemoa of 1946 and she was the first one class vessel to be ordered by the company for this service and the first to be fitted with Radar.

The design of the twin screw, steam driven turbo electric vessel was based on the hull of the highly successful Rangatira of 1931, but with an enlarged superstructure increasing the accommodation by 100 and a further 800 tons displacement.  This expediency ensured a shorter construction period and she was thus the first passenger vessel launched in Britain after the Second World War.  The Hinemoa provided twenty years of reliable service before ending her career as an accommodation and electric power supply service vessel George H. Evens based at Tasmania.

Acknowledgements
This section of the NZ Maritime record Site updated by Brendon Tarrant, 2002.