Minerva (1910 ship) explained

-- commercial vessels -->+Minerva
Ship Image:Minerva about 1911.jpg
Ship Caption:Minerva about 1911
Ship Owner:Clevedon Steam Navigation Company Limited
Ship Builder:Charles Bailey junior
Ship Launched:10 December 1910
Ship Tonnage:21 tons
Ship Length:65feet
Ship Beam:15feet
Ship Draught:3inchesft10inchesin (ftin)
Ship Power:Twin 14hp steam engines by Fraser & Sons
Ship Capacity:176 in river, 117 in extended limits
Minerva was a 21-ton,[1] kauri-built,[2] steam passenger ferry, launched for Clevedon Steam Navigation Company Limited at the Freemans Bay yard of Charles Bailey on 10 December 1910, to link Auckland with Whitford and Howick.[3] A social for the new ship was held at Whitford on 16 January 1911.[4]

When road competition made the service uneconomic,[5] she was put up for sale in 1921. In 1922 she was damaged when a crane fell on her.[6] Later that year she was sold to Charles West,[7] who owned a sawmill at Helensville and used her to tow logs across Kaipara Harbour.[8] She had a stormy passage to Kaipara and initially had to put in to Manukau Harbour.[9] She was again put up for sale in 1944.[10]

She then became a fishing boat, a houseboat[11] (she was on the Hātea River in 1984)[12] and an America's Cup viewing boat, until, in 2010, she was given to the Kerikeri Steam Trust for restoration.[13] In 2019 she was moved by road from Kerikeri to Opua.[14] 1940s Sisson marine compound steam engines were found to power her twin screws,[15] as her twin Fraser & Sons 14hp engines[16] were removed when she was converted to diesel after her 1944 sale. W Sisson & Co was a Gloucester engineering firm from 1889 to 1958, when it became part of Belliss and Morcom.[17] A 70hp Sisson engine, from the minesweeper Oceanid, arrived in 2020 from Seattle. Another Sisson engine (8-inch high-pressure, 16-inch low-pressure cylinder, 8-inch stroke) arrived in 2022 from Lake Constance.

Minerva is being restored for use in the Bay of Islands. In April 2024 a 6-tonne boiler, made by Lyttleton Engineering, was delivered to Opua. It is planned that she will provide tourist trips between Russell and Opua, connecting with the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway.[18]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 1911 . Return of Steamers and Oil-engine Vessels to which Certificates of Survey were issued . 2024-05-27 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  2. Web site: 6 August 1921 . New Zealand Herald . 2024-05-27 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  3. Web site: 10 December 1910 . Auckland Star . 2024-05-27 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  4. Web site: 23 January 1911 . Country news. New Zealand Herald . 2024-05-27 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  5. Web site: 17 June 1922 . Clevedon steamer service. Auckland Star . 2024-05-27 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  6. Web site: 13 April 1922 . Wharf crane capsizes: accident at the Hobson Wharf, Auckland . 2024-05-27 . kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz . en.
  7. Web site: 1 September 1927 . Ceasing operations. New Zealand Herald . 2024-05-27 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  8. Web site: 15 April 1924 . N Wairoa bridge. New Zealand Herald . 2024-05-27 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  9. Web site: 10 November 1922 . Minerva's rough trip. New Zealand Herald . 2024-05-27 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  10. Web site: 8 September 1944 . Auckland Star . 2024-05-27 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  11. Web site: 7 April 2010 . SS Minerva set to sail again. Stuff . 2024-05-27 . www.stuff.co.nz.
  12. Web site: 31 March 2022 . Kerikeri Steam Trust . 2024-05-27 . www.facebook.com.
  13. Web site: 6 July 2019 . The country's oldest ferry set to be restored in Northland . 2024-05-27 . 1News . en.
  14. Web site: 2 July 2019 . Steam ferry hits the road to new home . 2024-05-27 . NZ Herald . en-NZ.
  15. Web site: 22 May 2020 . Steam engine find brings ferry restoration a step closer . 2024-05-27 . NZ Herald . en-NZ.
  16. Web site: 2015-03-03 . Minerva Article . 2024-05-27 . waitematawoodys.com . en.
  17. Web site: W. Sisson and Co . 2024-05-27 . www.gracesguide.co.uk.
  18. Web site: 2024-05-27 . New boiler for 114-year-old Bay of Islands ferry Minerva brings unique steam experience closer . 2024-05-27 . NZ Herald . en-NZ.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Minerva (1910 ship)".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.