The Aorangi was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company of Glasgow (hull number 603) for the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand during 1924, it was launched June 17th 1924. It was a quadruple screw vessel powered by four six cylinder Fairfield built Sulzer ST70 two stroke single acting engines of 700mm bore - total of 13,000hp at 127rpm.
The ship was named after Mount Aorangi, a mountain on New Zealand's South Island. Aorangi is from the Maori language 'cloud in the sky'
The Aorangi's maiden voyage commenced from Southampton on January 2nd 1925 for Los Angeles and Vancouver, arriving there on January 30th 1925 after a journey of 9,047 nautical miles at an average speed of seventeen knots. From here the ship commenced her maiden Pacific voyage to Honolulu, Suva, Auckland, Wellington and Sydney on February 6th 1925. On these voyages the ship would spend five days in Vancouver and five days in Sydney, of which thirty six hours of each stop would be spent on disinfecting the ship. This would become her regular route for a number of years. In 1931 potential competition from the American owned Matson Line saw the creation of the Canadian-Australasian Line, from an agreement between the Union Steamship Company and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, the Aorangi and Niagara were transferred to this new company.
The Aorangi was the first of a new breed of large liners powered by diesel engines. It was running on schedules more suited to slower vessels, thus the Aorangi consistently gained on the timetables. Even on the 'short' legs, such as the 2,400 mile Honolulu - Vancouver leg scheduled for six and a half days, the Aorangi would gain twelve hours on the schedule. During the first year's operation her average speed was 16.54 knots with a daily fuel consumption of 53 - 56 tons which included fuel for the diesel engines, refridgerating plant, heating and laundry operations.
When a piston was damaged in one of the engines whilst the Aorangi was at sea, a new piston was installed within five hours, with the stopped engine being brought up to full load shortly afterwards.
Towards the end of 1927 the ship's engines were overhauled for the first time since entering service. To this point the ship had travelled just over 200,000 nautical miles at an average speed of 16.44 knots. A total of 12,224 engine hours had been run up with an average daily fuel consumption of 45.8 tons for propelling purposes only. By December 1927 the overhaul was complete and the Aorangi returned to her regular sailings.
A publicity view of the RMS Aorangi.
On June 26th 1930 the Aorangi sailed from Sydney for Canada with the Australian team for the 1930 Commonwealth Games aboard, the team reaching their final destination of Hamilton on July 23rd.
The Aorangi twice visited the Manly NSW quarantine station, both times for to deal with smallpox, once in 1930 and then again in 1935. In the latter case most of the passengers treated this as a two week holiday and there was a jovial atmosphere. Fumigation was necessary to deal with the outbreaks.
The war years saw the Aorangi as active as ever, on a great variety of duties and visiting places far removed from its trans-Pacific workings of the 1930's.
In October 1940 Aorangi sailed with troops from New Zealand to Fiji. During the first half of 1941 she was moving troops from Australia to Canada including airmen. In the summer of 1941 the Aorangi was requisitioned by the British Ministry of War Transport and steamed from Sydney to the United Kingdom. After conversion to troop ship service, she sailed with convoys carrying troops and supplies to the Near East, Middle East and India and brought US and Canadian troops to Europe.
Although the route plied by the Aorangi was far removed from the major conflicts in the Europe, there still remained great danger off the coasts of Australia and New Zealand. The RMS Niagara, a ship belonging to the same company that operated the Aorangi, hit a mine during the early hours of June 19th 1940 shortly after leaving Auckland. The mine was part of a barrage laid by the German raider Orion. The Niagara was lost but it's 349 passengers and crew were rescued.
The Aorangi left the United Kingdom on November 13th 1941 as part of convoy WS 12Z bound for Suez. The convoy arrived at Freetown on November 25th 1941 and departed on November 28th 1941. Refuelling took place in Durban, departing here on December 24th 1941. However the Aorangi, transporting almost 2,200 troops, and three other ships were headed for Singapore as convoy DM1 to provide urgent aid for the forces there, arriving there on January 13th 1942. The Aorangi later sailed with evacuated civilians from Singapore, leaving on January 16th 1942 and arrived in Fremantle, Western Australia on January 24th 1942.
On April 15th 1942 the Aorangi sailed from the United Kingdom as part of convoy WS 18. Freetown was reached on April 29th 1942, departing here on May 3rd 1942. The convoy arrived off Capetown on May 15th 1942, the Aorangi was in that part of the convoy due to refuel at Durban. However a minefield had been laid recently by the raider Doggerbank, two ships fell victim to the mines. After unloading the Aorangi set sail with two other ships bound for the River Plate.
On July 1st 1942 the heavily protected convoy AT 17 departed New York bound for the Clyde with eight ships including the Aorangi. At some point the Aorangi & Siboney became detached from the main convoy and put into Halifax. These two ships sailed from Halifax on July 5th 1942 as convoy AT 17B and reached the Clyde on July 12th 1942.
The Aorangi sailed from the Clyde on July 29th 1942 as part of convoy WS 21. Also in the convoy was the Sulzer powered Rangitiki. Freetown was reached on August 10th 1942, departing August 15th 1942. Cape Town was reached on August 27th 1942, the Aorangi being in the group of ships set to refuel here, departure from here was on August 30th 1942. On September 10th 1942 the convoy divided as they normally did with the Aorangi bound for Aden and Suez, arriving at the latter towards the end of September 1942.
The small convoy WS 29A with two ships, one being the Aorangi sailed from the United Kingdom on April 20th 1943 to Casablana, Dakar and Freetown arriving May 4th 1943. Here further ships were added, the convoy now identified as the WS 29. Cape Town was reached on May 18th but the Aorangi was in the group that went to Durban for refuelling, arriving here on May 20th 1943, which appears to have been her destination.
Convoy KMF 25A with twenty six ships including the Aorangi sailed from Liverpool on October 27th 1943 bound for Alexandria, arriving there on November 11th 1943, although the Aorangi may have only gone as far as Algiers.
Convoy MKF 26 sailed from Port Said on November 17th 1943 with the Aorangi joining from Oran on November 30th 1943 bound for the United Kingdom, reaching the Clyde on December 8th 1943. This convoy comprised mostly large troop carrying ships.
On February 21st 1944 convoy KMF 29 sailed from the Clyde with twenty three ships including the Aorangi bound for Alexandria (?), reaching there on March 5th 1944. The Aorangi was carrying 1,551 troops. Following this trip the Aorangi departed Malta with 3,143 troops bound for Liverpool and using convoy MKF 29 to make the journey, arriving Liverpool on March 16th 1944.
In May 1944 the Aorangi was fitted out as an accommodation ship for small craft personnel. During the Normandy Invasion she served as a depot ship for a fleet of tugs and auxiliary ships, providing food, water, ammunition, engine parts and relief crews. From D-Day until the end of July, the Aorangi serviced 1,200 vessels and countless other small craft. Her hospital took in wounded men from the beachheads.
After these D-Day & Normandy adventures the liner was converted to serve as the commodore ship and joined the British Pacific Fleet at Hong Kong. On March 31st 1945 convoy KMF 42 sailed from the Clyde with nineteen ships including the Aorangi bound for Gibralter. The Aorangi was carrying 433 troops, her ultimate destination was Bombay.
After the Japanese surrender, she remained at Hong Kong as an accommodation ship for men released from war service and waiting to go home.
It was estimated that during the war years, this ship transported 36,000 troops and evacuated 5,500 refugees from war zones.
After being returned to her owners in May 1946, she was reconditioned at Sydney and resumed service in August 1948 with accommodation for 212-1st, 170-cabin and 104-3rd class passengers for the Vancouver - Australia service. The service was plagued by union problems among the stewards and seamen. Because of demands for higher wages, the liner operated at a loss, but aided by subsidies from the Australian, New Zealand and Canadian governments the ship remained in service until June, 1953. The Aorangi's last voyage from Vancouver for Australia commenced on 14th May 1953.
The liner was retired that summer and arrived in Dalmuir, Scotland late in July 1953 for scrapping.
Built: Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Glasgow
Launched: 1924
Tonnage: 17,491 tons
Deadweight: 23,000 tons
Length: 600 feet
Breadth: 72 feet
Draught: 29.9 ft
Propulsion: Four Fairfield-Sulzer 6ST70 two-stroke single acting 6 cylinder diesel engines 3000/3600hp at 130rpm.
Auxiliary engines: four x 4SS34 and one x 2RV24 totalling 1,660hp
Screws: Four
Speed: 17.5 knots
Passengers: 436 first class, 284 second class, 227 third class
Resources:
Miscellaneous sources from a variety of websites and other period printed materials.
Sulzer Technical Revue #2 1928
Convoy Web
Page added April 30th 2007
Last updated August 15th 2009
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