In October 1898 she was sold to A J Grefstad, Xiansand, Norway for £2,650. March 17th: departed Wellington, April 6th at Panama, arrived London April 20th. 1934
If you know the vessel's name - check Gavin's website 'Immigrant Ships to New Zealand 1835 to 1910' to obtain the arrival port and date in New Zealand. Damage to Rangitane's steering gear made further manouevring impossible so the ship came to a stop. 1930
September 20th: departed London, at Cristobal October 5th, arrived Auckland October 23rd. Another German capital ship to set its sights on a convoy that included the Rangitiki was the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper. August 3rd: departed Wellington for London. Additionally whilst crossing the Pacific one of the engines broke down. She was knocked down the companion way by a piano that hurtled across the lounge. These agreements and crew lists usually include such information as the destination of the ship and the names of individual crew members with age, rank, place of birth, former ship and wage. As she was the largest ship in Convoy HX84 with her very distinctive two-funnel profile, she was a prime target for the enemy warship. July 4th departed Southampton for NZ, July 10th Panama, Aug 6th 1931 arrived Auckland
Launched: 1929
Twenty nine other passengers were treated for cuts and bruises.
Crew killed in action:
The convoy arrived at Freetown on July 13th 1941 and sailed out on July 16th 1941, with the Rangitata bound for Cape Town. Length 168 metres. February 12th departed London for NZ, Feb 27th at Colon, March 19th arrived Wellington
Also sailing as part of this convoy was the Sulzer powered Indrapoera. The latter convoy was bound for the Mediterranean, the split occurring on June 26th 1943, the Rangitiki going east with convoy KMF 17. Freetown was reached on April 29th 1942, departing here on May 3rd 1942. August 3rd: departed Wellington, at Panama August 23rd and Balboa August 24th, arrived London September 5th. At Panama April 13th, arrived London April 27th. 1939
Polished mahogany is in evidence in many of the public rooms, which are all tastefully decorated. These changes were made to the other two vessels prior to their delivery from the shipyard. August 12th: Departure had been delayed due a waterfront dunnage dispute. The emigrants consisted of twenty-two men, twenty-one women and twenty-one children. "No industry can build a healthy, increasing export trade on a crumbling domestic market." The stretcher case was Miss Mabel Saunders. Squaddies were seasick - some very ill - and the mess deck, where we ate and slept, really was a 'mess'. Mr. Gough. There were even a couple of swimming pools on board, but not for the likes of us. June 23rd departed London for NZ, June 30th Plymouth, July 12th Cristobal, July 16th Panama, July 31st Auckland
In July, 1930 a little over one year into her long career, Rangitata was in the news having rescued the crew of the cargo ship Targis, which had caught fire in the South Atlantic. 1931
This page has been archived and is no longer updated. She was fully laden with dairy produce, frozen meat, and wool for the United Kingdom. Crockery was shattered and chairs and tables overturned.' During December 1939 the Rangitata was requisitioned as a personnel carrier and served as a passenger transport ship until 1941 when it was converted to a troopship with a capacity of 2,600 troops. Passengers who arrived in the ship from New Zealand said that accommodation elsewhere in the ship was 'pretty bad'. February 12th: arrived Wellington from London. It had been determined that the patient could not wait until reaching England to have the surgery. It is no longer possible to leave messages here. 180 L.K. The Rangitiki was launched on August 29th 1928, her trials revealed an unstable condition when in ballast. Under the command … James had been on the boat for five and a half years, and Ransom for two years. The ships could be expected to make two and a half round trips each year.
On January 6th 1940 the Rangitata with 450 New Zealand troops departed Wellington NZ with a number of other ships bound for the Middle East. June 3rd: Radio telegraphy played the leading part in conveying to the world speedy information regarding the arrival of Miss Amy Johnson at Darwin recently. The chief steward on the Rangitane, Maughin, said in evidence that on returning to his cabin at 10.45 p.m. on August 15, when the ship was between Panama and Wellington, he examined the safe in the office adjoining and found that all the ship's cash, £410, and letters of credit and a bank draft, of a total of £300, were missing. When the first news was wirelessed from Darwin and repeated from Sydney Radio Station, Amalgamated Wireless' receiving station at La Perouse happened to be carrying on a conversation with the New Zealand Steamship Company's vessel Rangitiki, which was 1,500 miles off the coast of England. The Rangitiki sailed from the Clyde on June 29th 1942 as part of convoy WS 21. (Many passengers went on to Tauranga). The arrival was late due to tempestuous weather and the ship remained in stream but the authorities decided, despite the late hour to clear the vessel. Perhaps someone reading this may know…. however, was quietly investigating, and as a result the property was recovered almost intact. It took quite a while to fix the timing chain, the remaining engine providing steerage to combat the stormy weather. May 22nd: departed London, arrived Wellington June 29th. Last updated September 13th 2018. The Rangitata sailed from the United Kingdom on August 29th 1942 as part of convoy WS 22, also sailing in the convoy was the Sulzer powered Johan Van Oldenbarnevelt. As the plane circled the landing ground further messages arrived: Down, down, down, landed, so that the news reached Sydney at the moment the wheels of the 'Jason's Quest' touched the ground. Freetown was reached on August 10th 1942, departing August 15th 1942. At that stage the ships were still in "Troop Ship" conditions with dormitories instead of cabins and strict male/female separation, men on port, women on starboard. 1937
The ship sailed via Suez and arrived at Melbourne on February 8th, from here twenty six British wives of Australian servicemen disembarked and headed for Brisbane. I served in the Merchant Ship "Clan Findlay" in the mid 60s and we were a DEMS ship with all sorts of interesting things in a special store room. Draught: 34.1 feet
John Green was sentenced to a month's imprisonment whilst his companion was sent to a remand home. Amongst the passengers were approximately 200 returning British people who had emigrated to New Zealand during the last 18 months and who, for whatever reason, had not wished to settle down in New Zealand. The lack of their success in finding Allied shipping also meant that their location and movements remained unknown to the Allied authorities. The engine stopped quickly but caused serious damage. Find out more about the site contributors. Ransom was attached to the office.
It was said that the speed of a convoy was determined by the slowest ship. February 4th: Sydney, arrived in Sydney from Auckland - the Royal suite on the liner Rangitiki, on which the Duchess of Gloucester and the young Princes William & Richard would travel to London, had been restored to its prewar furnishings (similar in furnishing to pre-war first class accomodation), though some of the materials were of wartime manufacture. referenced. In 1937 the Rangitata carried Anzac troops to England in celebration of the coronation of King George VI. It would take thirty five days to travel from London to Auckland followed by twenty eight days to unload & reload the ship. The Rangitiki thus received the news of Amy's landing less than two minutes after she reached Darwin. The journey had taken exactly six weeks with stops only in Colon and Wellington. The significant non-event of major import to the Rangitane was that the SS Holmwood did not transmit any radio messages during this confrontation. 1935
She was launched on 29 August 1928, but was found to be somewhat unstable in ballast conditions. Sept 1st* departed Wellington for London, Sept 20th Panama, Oct 4th arrived London
January 18th: (Reported in London) Samuel Weir, 19, of Blantyre (Scotland) was charged at Eastham, England, with having stowed away on the Rangitiki. July 31st: departed Wellington for London, the weather was bitterly cold and the passengers included the All Blacks rugby team. The German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer located and attacked the convoy in the middle of the Atlantic, which was ordered to scatter.
July 20th departed Wellington for London, Aug 8th Colon, Aug 20th Southampton
Mrs Davies
( more details ) Latest Ship Information Added All fares are subject to exchange, but even with this addition the rates are extremely low for the accommodation, service, and table provided. The engineroom staff caused damage to the engines to ensure the German's could not take the vessel as a prize. I believe my mother was one of the passengers. Two hours later, after the action had finished dinner was served as if nothing had happened. Rangitiki'smaiden voyage was February 1929, from Southampton via Madeira and Panama. July ?? Deveron, Are you aware of an incident with the ship when it was being loaded with explosives in liverpool docks. These five ships would not remain together long, the Rangitata arrived at Mombasa on October 12th 1942, the others split between Aden/Suez & Bombay. After unloading at Durban it appears the Rangitata returned to the United Kingdom. Posts about Rangitiki written by printerspie. January 16th departed Wellington for London, Feb 4th Balboa, Feb 5th Colon, Feb 6th Kingston
When the robbery became known and no immediate arrest or recovery of the property was made, some of the passengers impatiently scoffed, saying, 'What? By the time the Achilles reached the site of the sinking at noon on November 28th the oil slick now stretched across nine miles of ocean. The trip from Southampton to Wellington took five weeks, noted Curacao on October 8th, Cristobal October 10th, arriving on October 27th 1948. Here the convoy was joined by several other ships including the Sulzer engined Felix Roussel & Indrapoera! NZ Inc), Wellington, NZ, in 1943. On arrival at Suez the troops from the Rangitata took the train to Maadi for further dispersal to the war front (i). There was a motley collection of passengers. This is a schedule of passenger ships calling at Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Freetown was reached on August 17th 1941, leaving on August 21st 1941, Rangitiki was in the section of ships bound for Durban for refuelling. On June 30th 1941 the Rangitata formed part of convoy WS 9B bound for Suez. We have a celebrated detective aboard, yet this sort of thing goes on Surely he can do something about it?' The ship would reach London on March 21st, two storms were encountered during the crossing, a major one in the Pacific with strong headwinds and a lesser one in the Atlantic. However the second of the batch shipped, number NZ102 Mk III Type 277 survived at least until 1944 and eventually was put on display at RNZAF Museum, Wigram. Jan 30th departed Wellington for London, Feb 19th Panama, Feb 20th Colon, Mar 5th Southampton, Mar 6th arrived London
Whilst sailing as part of Convoy WS5 late in December 1940 the Admiral Hipper commenced shadowing the convoy southwards some seven hundred miles west of Cape Finnesterre. The regular service route was London - Curacao - Panama - Papeete - Wellington & Auckland. By the time we reached Liverpool the carriages were heaving with bodies, all with equipment. Troopships and Hospital ships of World War II, including those operated by the American Merchant Marine War Shipping Administration, U.S. Navy, and Army Transport Service After all that, we realized we were on E deck, well below the water line, which made some of us think, 'What if we met any submarines?' September 26th departed London for NZ, Oct 11th Panama, Oct 29th arrived Auckland
We immediately marched to another dock to a great liner, a Dutch cruise liner called The New Amsterdam. Some days later, the convoy rounded the Cape of Good Hope. 1933
The arrival of a German boarding party led to the orderly evacuation of the ship. The ships passed close enough for passengers and crew to raise a cheer and recognise that this event would not happen again for these two ships. 80 ships were idle whilst 11 were undermanned. A waterfront strike caused delays in the unloading of the ship, with the 426 disembarking passengers assisting in getting their luggage ashore. This is thought by shipping companies to be a record consignment for any one passenger ship. Several days after resuming the voyage a man fell overboard from the liner Orcades which occupied the position in front of the Rangitata. The interior of the ship is decorated on a lavish scale, and some of the bedroom suites, which are panelled with polished and carved oak, have cost well over £1,000 to fit up. April 13th departed Wellington for London, May 5th Panama, May 17th arrived London
when the vessel was 700 miles (?) On the evening of July 25th 1943 the KMF 20 section headed east, whilst WS 32 headed south, reaching Freetown on July 28th 1943. It was renamed 'The Rangitiki' on 17th October 1874. At Panama April 6th 1935, arrived London April 18th.
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