The ''Rapaki'' steam crane was a historic boat in New Zealand. On 24 December 1925 the

Lyttelton Harbour Board The Lyttelton Harbour Board was established on 10 January 1877 to manage Lyttelton Harbour. The harbour had previously been managed by the Canterbury Provincial Council, but provincial government ceased to exist on 1 January 1877. The harbour boa ...

ordered an 80-ton self-propelled floating crane, called ''Rapaki''. She was named after the settlement close to Lyttelton of the same name. She was built at a cost of £42,000. The ''Rapaki'' took 109 days to sail from Greenock to Lyttelton, arriving on 28 July 1926. ''Rapaki'' was one of two steam cranes in New Zealand waters, the other being the ''

Hikitia ''Hikitia'' is a working self-propelled floating steam crane in Wellington, New Zealand. She is thought to be the only working steam crane of her type in the world. She is also the sister ship to the '' Rapaki'', formerly of the Port of Lyttel ...

'' which as of 2021 can still be visited on the Wellington Waterfront. ''Rapaki'' operated in Lyttelton for 60 years. During World War 2 ''Rapaki'' was requisitioned for war work in the Pacific. It had been intended that she go to the Middle East but after Japan joined the war this plan was cancelled. At the end of her working life ''Rapaki'' was transported to Auckland and became an exhibit at the Maritime Museum on Auckland's waterfront. In December 2018, the ''Rapaki'' was towed to Wynyard Wharf to be broken up. Some of its parts were given to the ''Hikitia''.

References

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''The New Zealand Maritime Record''''Engineering Heritage New Zealand''
Merchant ships of New Zealand Steam cranes Ships built on the River Clyde Paisley, Renfrewshire Crane vessels Floating cranes Individual cranes (machines) 1925 ships