The picture is of Tainui I but Arawa I was her sister ship. They were the first
of the Shaw Saville & Albion steam fleet.
Arawa I was built in 1884, had a gross tonnage of 5026 and a speed of 14 nots.
Tainui I also built in 1884 by Wm. Denny & Bros. Dumbarton.
(5031T, 439.6 x 46.3 x 28.9; 13 knots.)
I had originally thought that Sydney Kelly was Mate on the Arawa I but it now
seems from the dates (1908 - Captain's Registers - The Guildhall Library - London)
that he was Mate of the Arawa II. The Arawa I had been sold by then. (Sold in 1899)
I have retained the information and picture because they are the prettiest
steamships I have ever seen. The rig is of interest in that although the picture
shows it to be that of a four masted barquentine; in an earlier picture it is
square rigged on the first two masts and fore and aft on the other two. Was this
referred to as a "Bastard Barque" - I am sure I have seen this terminology
somewhere.
So, back to the business in hand. This picture is of the Arawa II, built in 1906
by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson. (9,372T, 460 x 60 x 31; 14 knots.)
Sydney Kelly was mate on the Arawa II in 1908 - June 3rd - Australia. On October 1st
he was captain of the Matatua II, also on the Austalia run.
Notice the characteristic tall funnel to provide adequate natural draught. She was sold to Arnold Bernstein of Germany in 1928 and renamed Konigstein. In 1939 she was sold to Cie Maritime Belge and renamed Gandia. On the 22nd January 1942 she was torpedoed and sunk in mid-Atlantic by U-135.