''Whangape'' was a

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

measured at , built in 1899 by

Sir Raylton Dixon Sir Raylton Dixon (8 July 1838 – 28 July 1901), was a shipbuilding magnate from Middlesbrough on the River Tees who served as Mayor of Middlesbrough. Background and early life Dixon was one of the seven children of Jeremiah II Dixon (1804� ...

& Co.,

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

. The vessel was constructed for the British Maritime Trust as ''Adriana'', sold while on the slips to Elder, Dempster & Company and renamed ''Asaba''. Her engine was built by T Richardson & Sons,

Hartlepool Hartlepool ( ) is a seaside resort, seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is governed by a unitary authority borough Borough of Hartlepool, named after the town. The borough is part of the devolved Tees Valley area with an estimat ...

. "Whangape" (pronounced: fun gah' pay) is a

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

word meaning "waiting for the inside of the pipi." The pipi is a bivalve mollusk native to New Zealand. ''Whangape'' was also the

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...

to , the munitions vessel under French registry that collided with the Norwegian vessel on 6 December 1917 in

Halifax Harbour Halifax Harbour is a large natural harbour on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, located in the Halifax Regional Municipality. Halifax largely owes its existence to the harbour, being one of the largest and deepest ice-free natural har ...

, Nova Scotia, Canada resulting in the devastating

Halifax Explosion On the morning of 6 December 1917, the French cargo ship collided with the Norwegian vessel in the harbour of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. ''Mont-Blanc'', laden with Explosive material, high explosives, caught fire and exploded, devastat ...

. Plans used to build ''Mont-Blanc'' were slightly adjusted to build and launch ''Whangape'' as few months later. The vessel was completed on 1 March 1900 and sold to the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand. After being chartered by the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

, she took part in operations against the German colonies in the Pacific with the

Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force The Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF) was a small volunteer force of approximately 2,000 men, raised in Australia shortly after the outbreak of World War I to seize and destroy German wireless stations in German New Guin ...

(AN&MEF) during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in 1914 and subsequently returned to her owners. ''Whangape'' was sold in 1928 to Chun Young Zan (Moller & Co) and renamed SS ''Nanking''.

Fate

''Nanking'' was

scrapped Scrap consists of recyclable Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on i ...

in China in 1935.

Footnotes

References

* *

External links

ees Built Ships website
1908 stern view photo in dry dock
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whangape 1899 ships Auxiliary ships of the Royal Australian Navy Ships of the Union Steam Ship Company Ships built on the River Tees