SS ''Tauranga'' was the first coastal trading steam ship to be built in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, though a harbour steamer, '' Governor Wynyard'', had been built at Auckland in 1851. She was launched at Henry Niccol's North Shore yard in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

on 27 March 1867. ''Tauranga'' was a kauri-built, twin screw, 70 ton dwt, top-sail

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

, built for Bay of Plenty Steam Navigation Co. Engines and other fitting out works were done by Fraser & Tinne's Phoenix Foundry at

Mechanics Bay Mechanics Bay ( mi, Te Tōangaroa) is a Land reclamation, reclaimed bay on the Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand. It is also the name of the area of the former bay that is now mainly occupied by commercial and port facilities. Some ...

. ''Tauranga'''s engines had a

jet condenser The Watt steam engine design became synonymous with steam engines, and it was many years before significantly new designs began to replace the basic Watt design. The first steam engines, introduced by Thomas Newcomen in 1712, were of the "at ...

cylinders, an stroke and ran at to produce 30 to and, although only designed for 7kn, she achieved a trial speed of She was built for the Auckland-Tauranga-Opotiki service, but also followed the Auckland–

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

route. She replaced an earlier schooner on the Auckland-Tauranga route, also called ''Tauranga''. She made a trial trip on 13 June 1867. With the exception of the imported shaft forgings, all the machinery was built by Phoenix Foundry, the first marine condensing engines constructed in the colony. The engine design was by Mr. Lowenhagen, who was formerly connected with E. and W. Hawthorne, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The contract price for the work, £2,000. The engine, weighing about 30 tons, had to be moved over a poor road to the beach and lifted from the beach in Mechanics Bay with a flax rope spun by Fraser and Tinne's machinery. on the downward trip eight miles and a quarter per hour, and returning, with one screw, six and a half miles. Her performance during this time was in 20 minutes, or an hour, with of steam, and vacuum. The boiler was a 20 ton three-furnace, multi-tubular boiler, with flat top and sides. To cope with the marine work they erected workshops in Mechanics Bay. ''Tauranga'' sank, somewhere in

Bream Bay Bream Bay is an embayment and area south-east of Whangārei, on the east coast of New Zealand. The bay runs from Bream Head, at the mouth of Whangārei Harbour, 22 kilometres south to the headland of Bream Tail, east of Langs Beach and north ...

, after a night-time collision on 23 July 1870 with an unlit ketch, ''Enterprise'', with the loss of all 5 passengers and 14 crew. Initially she was replaced on the Tauranga route by ''

SS Go Ahead SS ''Go Ahead'' was a Twin-screw steamer, twin screw-steamer, launched on the afternoon of Saturday 20 April 1867 by T.B. Seath & Co., Seath and Connell, of Rutherglen, for the Clyde Shipping Company, with a plan to use her in New Zealand coastal ...

''. A fund to provide for the families of those drowned raised over £1,000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tauranga, SS Ships built in New Zealand Ships of New Zealand Steamships of New Zealand 1867 ships Shipwrecks of the Northland Region Maritime incidents in July 1870 Missing ships Ships lost with all hands