MV ''Empire Abercorn'' was a

cargo Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including trans ...

and passenger ship that was built in 1944, renamed MV ''Rakaia'' in 1946 and remained in service until 1971.

History

''Empire Abercorn'' was built by

Harland & Wolff Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the W ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

for the MoWT and was initially managed by the New Zealand Shipping Co,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. She was sold to the New Zealand Shipping Co in 1946 and renamed ''Rakaia''. In 1950, ''Rakaia'' was converted to a cadet training ship, and the accommodation reduced from 45 passengers to 40 cadets. Her first voyage in this role started on 10 June 1950. On 16 February 1955, a dockside fire at

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

, New Zealand threatened to spread to ''Arawa'', ''Port Pirie'', ''Rakaia'', and ''Rangitoto''. On 16 October 1957, on a voyage between

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, No. 8 piston rod in the engine snapped. The ship was about off Halifax at the time. The weather deteriorated, and the ship was rolling, making repairs difficult. To stabilize ''Rakaia'', it was decided to

jury rig In maritime transport terms, and most commonly in sailing, jury-rigged is an adjective, a noun, and a verb. It can describe the actions of temporary makeshift running repairs made with only the tools and materials on board; and the subsequent r ...

a set of sails. Tarpaulin sails were made from hatch covers. Two

square sail Square rig is a generic type of sail and rigging arrangement in which the primary driving sails are carried on horizontal spars which are perpendicular, or square, to the keel of the vessel and to the masts. These spars are called ''yards'' an ...

s and one staysail were erected, giving approximately of sail. The engine was reduced from eight to six cylinders, running at a maximum of 50 rpm; it took eleven days to reach Liverpool. On 28 December 1966, ''Rakaia'' was sold to the Federal Steam Navigation Co, remaining under the management of the New Zealand Shipping Co. Her last voyage as a cadet training ship ended on 28 March 1968. ''Rakaia'' was sold to the Lee Sing Company,

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

on 22 August 1971 for scrapping.

Engine and generators

''Empire Abercorn'' had an eight-cylinder, two-cycle double-acting

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

built by Harland & Wolff. It produced 7,500 hp at 115 rpm. Normal operating speed about 101.2 rpm, giving a fuel consumption of 28 tons per day. ''Empire Abercorn'' had four main generators and one auxiliary generator. The main generators were "Harlandics", built by Harland and Wolff. They were powered by six-cylinder diesel engines of producing 250 kW each ; the auxiliary generator was powered by a three-cylinder diesel engine of producing 15 kW, voltage was 220 volts.

Official number and code letters

Official numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers. ''Empire Abercorn'' had the UK official number 166215 and

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assign ...

GFGW. Towards the end of her life, ''Rakaia'' was given IMO Number 5289481.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Abercorn 1944 ships Ships built in Belfast Ministry of War Transport ships Ships of the New Zealand Shipping Company Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Ships built by Harland and Wolff