Turakina (ship, 1902)
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The Turakina (II) was a 1902 passenger ship of the New Zealand shipping company New Zealand Shipping Company , which was used in passenger and mail traffic between Great Britain and New Zealand . On August 13, 1917, the Turakina was sunk by the German submarine U 86 near the Scilly Isles at the entrance to the English Channel .
The ship
The 8349-ton, from steel -built steamer was at the shipyard Hawthorn Leslie and Company in the northeastern English town of Hebburn built. The combined passenger and cargo ship, 144.17 meters long and 18.16 meters wide, was launched on April 23, 1902. The steamer had a chimney, two masts and two propellers and could reach a top speed of 13.5 knots. The ship was propelled by two three-cylinder triple expansion steam engines with a total of 10,893 hp. Completion took place in August 1902. The construction costs of the ship amounted to a total of 158,000 pounds sterling (in terms of monetary value at the time ).
The Turakina was built like the other ships of the shipping company for passenger and mail traffic to New Zealand and could accommodate 40 passengers in the first, 54 in the second, 74 in the third class and 170 more in the "emigrant class". The crew numbered about 100 people. In addition, the ship had storage rooms for transporting frozen meat products.
On September 2, 1902, the put Turakina in London for the maiden voyage from New Zealand. On October 27, 1905, a fire broke out in hold No. 4 while the ship was in Wellington . On May 28, 1907 there was another fire three days after departure in Auckland , so that the Turakina had to be towed back to Auckland with the help of the tug Terawhiti . The third incident of this kind occurred on March 4, 1913, when a fire broke out in the coal bunkers and hold no. 3 after leaving Rio de Janeiro . The ship had to be put aground to put out the fires. Only three weeks later could the ship be made afloat again and return to England.
The ship remained on the London-New Zealand route until it was used as a New Zealand Troop Transport with the identification HMNZT 84 for the war effort. Together with the Tofua (HMNZT 83), she left New Zealand on April 26, 1917 with supply troops from the New Zealand Expeditionary Force . On July 20, 1917, the two ships arrived in Plymouth . On August 5, 1917, the ship fell under the Liner Requistion Scheme.
Sinking
After a few months in action, the Turakina was sunk on August 13, 1917, 120 nautical miles southwest of Bishop Rock near Land's End at position 48.30N, 08.34W by the German submarine U 86 under Lieutenant Alfred Götze . The Turakina was on its way from London to New York with 200 American soldiers . The soldiers were on their way home after completing their military service. In addition, oil was to be taken on board in New York for a further voyage to New Zealand. There were no deaths among the soldiers, but two to four crew members died when one of the lifeboats capsized (the sources provide different information).
After the American troop carrier Covington (16,339 GRT) and the British hospital ship Llandovery Castle (11,423 GRT), the Turakina was the third largest ship sunk by U 86 .