She was the 3rd ship to be ordered by the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand.
With a length overall of 275 feet and a beam of 45 feet and draught of 21 feet and 6 inches, she was a large coaster for her day. At 2,534 tons she was launched from the yard on 21st December 1938.
She saw service during World War II serving as a transport ship for the U.S. Forces.
This large motor ship was in fact the last vessel built for this company before war arrived.
As soon as the war reached the Pacific, she went into service as a transport for the United States Forces, who formed a very high opinion of her design and performance.
1 comment:
Hello, compliments on your great blog. I have been researching the Karitane as I want to build a model of same.
The photo you have here appears to be of the Karitane I, a ship built in 1903 by S.P. Austin & Co in Sunderland.She hit a cliff in fog in 1921 in Australia carrying copper and spuds. Originally built as the Cavalier. (see "Marine Times of Tasmania" spring 2018 for story and photos of the wreck.
The Karitane II was indeed built by Robb. I found good photos on Shipspotting.com
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