Ship History

	History

RETURN TO THE HOMEPAGE RMS AWATEA 1936
This magnificent ocean liner was the fastest and most luxurious ocean liner in the Southern Hemisphere. The Awatea was built by Vickers Armstrong Ltd, Barrow in Furness in 1936 for service on the Trans-Tasman services of the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand. Sadly she had a short life and was bombed and sunk in the Mediterranean in 1942 while on troopship duties to North Africa during the Second World War. Her short life means her remarkable and illustrious history is almost forgotten and her name is seldom quoted among the ranks of the world's great ocean liners even though she deserves it. Design and Construction (1932 - 1936): This splendid liner had been inspired by fear of American intentions in the Pacific. In 1932 the Union Steam Ship Company faced intense competition from the heavily subsidised American Matson Line both on the San Francisco route and on the trans-Tasman run, which had been a Union preserve for many years. The Mariposa and Monterey outclassed any of the Union ships, so only service and seamanship could win the day and had inaugurated Matson Line's new extended service to the South Pacific to New Zealand and Australia from San Francisco via Hawaii. As a result they directly competed with Union Line on the Trans-Tasman. The idea of a new fast ship for the Trans-Tasman service was first raised in July 1930 in light of the order of Matson order for two new fast ships for the South Pacific service. However due to financial constraints the project was shelved. However 18 months later it was revived and in December 1933 Union Line was able to announce that they had decided in principle to build a new Tasman express liner. The key requirement was for a ship that could make the passage in two and a half days, thus enabling with a tight turnaround at each port a round trip each week. This required a minimum sea speed of 20 knots. Finally on Christmas Eve 1934 the contract was let to Vickers Armstrong Ltd, Barrow in Furness, England, UK. She became yard number 707. In November 1934 it was announced that the ship's name was to be Awatea - a Maori word meaning "eye of the dawn". On the 25th Feburary 1936 she was launched by Lady Bledisloe, wife of the former Governor-General of New Zealand. She then proceeded to the fitting out berth in Buccleuch Dock. The first class lounge had a silver centre piece that was always filled with fresh flowers. This was a key feature of the lounge from its arrival in New Zealand in April 1937 as a present from the ship's sponsor, Lady Bledisloe. It was handed over to Captain Davey on behalf of the ship in a ceremony in Wellington on the 17th May 1937 and bore the inscription "Presented to the Awatea by her Godmother, Elaine, Lady Bledisloe". Fortunately it was removed in Vancouver at the time of the Awatea's requisitioning as a troopship in 1941. After the loss of the Awatea in the Second World War it returned to see in 1949 as a centrepiece of the first class lounge on the refurbished Monowai. When that ship was withdrawn in 1960 Union Line presented it to the Dominion Museum (now the Museum of New Zealand) and today it is on loan to the Wellington Maritime Museum where it can be seen today. On the 22nd July 1936 with her fitting out complete, the Awatea departed Barrow in Furness bound for Liverpool for dry docking. She was dry docked at the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead. On the 25th July 1936 she set sail again for her sea trials off the Clyde in Scotland. These showed that the ship easily made her design speed of 20 knots. On the 28th July 1936 she was officially handed over to her owners, Union Line, by her builders Vickers Armstrong Ltd. On the 5th August 1936 she set sail from Greenock bound on her delivery voyage via the Panama Canal to Wellington. She arrived there on the 3rd September 1936 exactly as Captain Davey had predicated before leaving Scotland! On the 13th September 1936 she departed Wellington bound on the coastal voyage northwards to Auckland. She arrived there on the 17th September. She then departed Auckland on her maiden Trans-Tasman Crossing bound for Sydney. On the 25th September she departed Sydney on the return leg of her maiden voyage back to Auckland. At last in 1936 Davey was able to meet the American challenge when the Union Company commissioned the Awatea , the finest passenger liner ever to fly the New Zealand flag. She was built by Vickers Armstrong Ltd, Barrow in Furness in 1936 for service on the Trans-Tasman services of the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand. Her lovely Maori name means "Eye of the Dawn". Able to do a fast 23 knots, and as such was one of the fastest liners afloat. In the late 1930s, the elegant ocean liner was the fastest and most luxurious merchant ship in the Southern Hemisphere. It was probably the most aesthetically pleasing liner of her era. At over 13,000 tons, the ship's sleek twin-funnelled profile suggested the lines of an art deco greyhound. In its day the Awatea was the ultimate in speed and comfort in the Southern Hemisphere. Six decks at the service of passengers, electric lifts .... accommodation for 377 First class passengers in luxury cabins equipped with telephones, hot and cold running water, non-luminous radiators, dressing tables, wardrobes, and in many cases private bathrooms. Superlatively designed and equipped Lounge, Smoke Room, Dining Room, Club Rooms for Men and Women, Library, Music Room, and an extensive Sports Deck.... delightful Verandah Cafe and Dance Room .... enclosed Promenade and Observation Deck ... Radio-telephone equipment... talkies... Zotofoam Baths... Comfortable, well planned cabins with hot and cold water, radiators, wardrobes,etc to accommodate 163 Tourist class passengers ... with beautifully decorated public rooms. Indeed the Awatea was the fastest and most luxurious ocean liner in the Southern Hemisphere. She was also called "The Tasman Greyhound" and also honoured with the title "The Queen of the Tasman Sea". Union Steam Ship Company heyday (1936 - 1939): He took delivery of it from the builders' yard at Barrow-in-Furness, England, and astonished the shipping world when he dropped anchor in Wellington harbour at the very minute he had promised before leaving Britain. On its arrival in its homeport of Wellington in 1936, the company threw a major reception, headed by the governor-general, Lord Galway. Everyone admired the ship. The Awatea performed well in the remaining years of peace. The Awatea and Davey soon swept all before them on the Tasman. The vessel was the third-fastest merchant ship in the British Empire and there was nothing that could compete locally. It took the Tasman record, but the sceptics still maintained that the Matson ships were faster. Her speed, comfort, and ability to keep going with the minimum of time in port, together with the publicity sense of her master, Captain A. H. Davey, made her a popular and well-known ship. In the summer of 1937 she made 11 Tasman crossings in 41 days and in the same year she brought the times for the Auckland-Sydney and Sydney-Wellington passages to less than 56 hours. Her best day's run was 576 miles, an average speed of 23.35 knots. The record breaking voyage departed Auckland on the 1st October 1937 and arriving in Sydney 4th October 1937. As a result of this special occasion the Paramount Film Corporation presented the ship with a framed certificate which was hung in Captain Davey's cabin and a 45-ft long blue pennant representing the blue riband of the Tasman. The pennant was thereafter flown from the main mast above the Company house flag. The Union Line then commissioned a polished stainless steel greyhound in racing mode 5 ft 7 inches long and weighing 178 pounds. This was mounted on the fore truck as a symbol of the ship's now acknowledged status as "The Tasman Greyhound". With the retirement of Captain Davey in 1941 when the ship arrived back in Sydney the greyhound was taken down and the Union Line presented it to Captain Davey in token of the fact that it symbolised all that they had achieved together. The greyhound was later installed above the door to Captain Davey's house in Auckland. The pennant also was given to Captain Davey. After his death in 1966 the pennant and the greyhound were presented to the Auckland Institute and Museum and moved to the National Maritime Museum in 1993 when the Institute's maritime collection was placed in the new museum. The great test came in June 1938 when the Mariposa and Awatea left Auckland together for Sydney. The weather conditions were bad at the start, but when they improved the Awatea resumed its normal speed, which required four of its six boilers. The Mariposa overtook it, but after discussion with his chief engineer, the Awatea's fifth boiler was fired and the vessel led the Mariposa into Sydney. To accusations of racing, which was banned by the Union Company, Davey responded by asking how anyone could be racing when one boiler was cold. The Awatea was fitted with radio telephone, which Davey used to ensure that the radio public on both sides of the Tasman was well aware of the triumphs of his ship. Back in the days before World War 2, there were two ships in Australasian waters that were quite famous in the international radio scene. One was the Kanimbla, an Australian coastal liner, with its radio station VK9MI. The other ship was the Awatea that plied across the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand. The electronic equipment on board the "Awatea" was made by AWA in Australia and it was installed in the ship at the time of construction. The transmitters on boad the "Awatea" were licensed by the New Zealand authorities as ZMBJ, and for long distance communication it operated with 400 watts on 8840 kHz. However, there was no radio studio on this ship and when the station was on the air with programme broadcasting, the communication equipment was diverted for this purpose. In September 1936, the Prime Mimister of Australia, Mr Joseph Lyons, was travelling on this ship and he made a broadcast to Australia from the shortwave transmitter ZMBJ. This broadcast was relayed Australia-wide on the ABC network by the medium wave station 3LO in Melbourne. Around this era, occasional broadcasts using recordings of popular music were heard in both Australia and New Zealand. As time went by, this ship made fewer radio broadcasts until towards the end, it was noted only in communication traffic with the maritime stations VIS in Sydney and ZLW in Wellington. However, generic QSL cards were issued for both the program broadcasts as well as for the communication traffic. With the outbreak of the Second World War programme broadcasting from the Awatea was silenced. Second World War (1939 - 1942): At the outbreak of war the Awatea was undergoing her annual survey and was fitted with a 4 in. gun aft. She continued to cross the Tasman until July 1940 after which she made several trips to Vancouver and, in addition, was used for transporting troops and refugees. In September 1941 she was requisitioned by the British Government for use as a troop transport and did three voyages. Then she was fitted out to take part in Operation Torch, the Allied landings in North Africa. She carried the 6th Commando group to off Algiers where she dropped them early on 8 November 1942. Eventually the Awatea anchored off Bougie, but as she was leaving German bombers attacked her and despite good anti-aircraft fire she was hit several times and sank during the night. The master, Captain G. B. Morgan, was awarded the D.S.O. and several of the crew were decorated for the ship's part in the operation. During her six years of life the Awatea steamed 576,132 miles, slightly more than half in peacetime, including 225 Tasman crossings. This magnificent ocean liner was the fastest and most luxurious ocean liner in the Southern Hemisphere. Sadly her short life means her remarkable and illustrious history is almost forgotten and her name is seldom quoted among the ranks of the world's great ocean liners even though she deserves it. Legacy: The first class lounge had a silver centre piece that was always filled with fresh flowers. This was a key feature of the lounge from its arrival in New Zealand in April 1937 as a present from the ship's sponsor, Lady Bledisloe. It was handed over to Captain Davey on behalf of the ship in a ceremony in Wellington on the 17th May 1937 and bore the inscription "Presented to the Awatea by her Godmother, Elaine, Lady Bledisloe". Fortunately it was removed in Vancouver at the time of the Awatea's requisitioning as a troopship in 1941. After the loss of the Awatea in the Second World War it returned to see in 1949 as a centrepiece of the first class lounge on the refurbished Monowai. When that ship was withdrawn in 1960 Union Line presented it to the Dominion Museum (now the Museum of New Zealand) and today it is on loan to the Wellington Maritime Museum where it can be seen today. As a result of this special occasion of the record breaking voyage between Auckland and Sydney in 1937 the Paramount Film Corporation presented the ship with a framed certificate which was hung in Captain Davey's cabin and a 45-ft long blue pennant representing the blue riband of the Tasman. The pennant was thereafter flown from the main mast above the Company house flag. The Union Line then commissioned a polished stainless steel greyhound in racing mode 5 ft 7 inches long and weighing 178 pounds. This was mounted on the fore truck as a symbol of the ship's now acknowledged status as "The Tasman Greyhound". With the retirement of Captain Davey in 1941 when the ship arrived back in Sydney the greyhound was taken down and the Union Line presented it to Captain Davey in token of the fact that it symbolised all that they had achieved together. The greyhound was later installed above the door to Captain Davey's house in Auckland. The pennant also was given to Captain Davey. After his death in 1966 the pennant and the greyhound were presented to the Auckland Institute and Museum and moved to the National Maritime Museum in 1993 when the Institute's maritime collection was placed in the new museum. So some items from the Awatea live on today as reminders of her illustrious history and her famous Captain Davey.