The Arrival of Steamships at Tauranga and the Challenges of the Mount Maunganui Channel

 Before the 1860s, visits by steamers seeking commercial cargoes at Tauranga were rare events. Between the 1840s and 1860s, the Tauranga-to-Auckland provisions trade had been dominated by local Māori waka fleets and Māori and Pākehā-Māori owned sailing ships. In March 1857, the little Auckland-based steamer Wonga Wonga made an exploratory visit to Tauranga with ‘sundries’ [1]. In February 1860, the SS White Swan visited while en route to Wellington [2]. However, steamers were not seen in Tauranga Harbour in numbers until the arrival of British and colonial troops in January 1864.

From the 1860s, the Bay of Plenty became an increasingly busy shipping zone, and despite the advent of steam-powered ships, it remained a hazardous maritime region. During Anglo-Māori tensions and fighting at Tauranga between 1864 and 1872, Imperial and colonial troops, stores, artillery and horses were landed from auxiliary-powered Royal Navy battleships and colonial government gunboat-steamers.

HMS Esk on guard duty in the Waitemata beside a prison hulk for Māori prisoners of war. Despite its auxiliary steam engine, the Esk ran aground on Stony Point Reef in April 1864.

The remarkable number of commercial steamers who accompanied them provided logistical support for the troops and, later, provisions, livestock and general necessities for the military settlers. They included the SS Storm Bird, Huntress, Lord Ashley, Clyde, Tauranga, Wellington, Taranaki, Go Ahead, Enterprise, Katikati, Egmont, Midge, Beautiful Star, Royal Alfred, Southern Cross, Rowena, and Glenelg [3]. 

Tauranga Harbour and the estuary ports, reefs, rocks and islands of the wider Bay of Plenty wrecked several of these steamers in later years. In the Bay, fog, sudden gales and longshore drift combined with narrow, shifting entrances, powerful tidal flows, limited navigational aids, and skippers anxious to ‘make the bar’, were to sink or wreck thousands of tons of shipping, both sail- and steam-powered.

Marked today by the statue of the sea god Tangaroa, Stony Point
Reef at the south end of the Maunganui Channel stranded and wrecked a variety
of sailing and steamships during the 1800s.

The first major step in providing regular steam-powered coastal transport to Tauranga came with the Bay of Plenty Steam Navigation Company. Formed locally in 1866, it deployed the newly built SS Tauranga. The New Zealand Steam Navigation Company placed the SS Storm Bird on the same Auckland – Tauranga – Ōpōtiki run soon after [4]. Critical maritime lifelines, they supported settler and Māori communities, and the expanding agricultural economies of the Bay of Plenty. A Tauranga Argus article in December 1866 emphasised the need for improved harbour facilities to support the regular steam services [5].

The long, open Coromandel and Bay of Plenty coastlines followed by steamers engaged in transporting troops and, later, commercial cargo between Auckland and Tauranga were beautiful, but deceptively dangerous. On calm days they could be struck suddenly by fierce easterly gales or heavy swells arising from storms occurring far out to sea. Meanwhile, beneath the surface, lay reefs, rocks and shoals. Steaming ahead during dense fog, the 443-ton SS Taranaki was wrecked on Karewā Island in 1878. Low-lying islands, like the Rurimas off Matatā, sank the SS Tasman during moderate weather in 1921. A hidden reef sank the 1,159-ton SS Manaia off Whakahau-Slipper Island during rain and mist one night in 1926.

On the 18 February 1879, the SS Taupō ran aground and was wrecked on Stony Point Reef.

Closer to Tauranga, the Mount Maunganui harbour entrance itself was a notorious trap, with the margin for error almost nonexistent. The outer bar shifted constantly, reshaped by tides, storms, and longshore drift. Steamers entering or exiting the channel were able to cross this bar without risk only when wind, tide and swell were suitable. Before dredging began, the channel twisted unpredictably, requiring steamer captains to align their approach with precision, despite poor visibility or while fighting powerful cross‑currents and winds, when approaching the channel entrance. 

Fierce, outgoing tides near Stony Point Reef, located near the base of Mount Maunganui at the southern end of the channel, temporarily trapped HMS Esk in April 1864 and wrecked the 464-ton SS Taupō in 1879. Attempting to negotiate the Maunganui Channel during a fierce gale in 1880, the 749 reg. ton SS Penguin was temporarily driven ashore on Matakana Island’s Panepane Beach.

The SS Penguin

Unlike sailing vessels, New Zealand’s coastal steamers were expected to maintain regular schedules, which helps explain why so many captains attempted the entrance when conditions were marginal. In fact, many post-wreck inquiries in this era reveal a common theme - pressure to maintain schedules. In 1921 for instance, the SS Tasman was ‘jammed for time to catch the bar at Whakatane,’ when it was wrecked at the Rurima Islands, a detail the subsequent Marine Inquiry highlighted as a contributing factor [6]. 

Similarly, the SS Taupō inquiry in 1879 censured veteran skipper Captain Hannibal Marks for decisions made under pressure, indicating how, strained by deadlines and fatigue, captains’ decisions could fail in a channel that allowed no mistakes [7].

New Zealand newspapers repeatedly criticised the lack of proper wharfs, lights, and harbour facilities from the 1860s and claimed during the 1870s, that the port was expanding faster than its infrastructure. Before the 20th century, Tauranga had no lighthouse at the entrance, minimal buoys, no dredging and no updated charts of the ever-changing bar [8].

When attempting the channel in marginal conditions, sail and steam powered vessels also grounded or were wrecked on the 3km stretch of beach to the north of Matakana Island’s Panepane Point - a notorious wrecking zone.

While the port was established in 1873, dredging the harbour to accommodate larger ships did not begin in earnest until 1965, with the main entrance channel dredged in 1968. Further major capital dredging projects, such as deepening and widening the channel, were undertaken in 1992 and 2015 [9].

Despite the challenges of negotiating the exposed Coromandel and Bay of Plenty coasts and accessing a harbour with limited facilities, steamships transformed old Tauranga. A significant improvement over its old pre-1860s Māori and Pākehā-Māori commercial sailing fleets, they reduced voyaging times for passengers, stabilised schedules and made the delivery of exported products and local mail faster and more reliable. In short, steamships were a catalyst for Tauranga’s transition from an isolated coastal settlement to an important, interconnected regional port.

The dominance of steamships waned as roads and railways improved. The decisive moment came with the opening of the Tauranga–Hamilton rail link in 1928, which rendered the long‑standing steamer passenger service to Auckland obsolete. It was formally abandoned in 1929 [10].

References

[1] Van der Wouden, A; The Introduction of Steamships to the Bay of Plenty’, Historical Review, Journal of the Whakatane District and Historical Society Vol. 38, May 1990: 21.

[2] Hawkes Bay Herald, 18 February 1860: 2.

[3] New Zealand Herald, 3 November 1865: 4. Nelson Examiner, 9 April 1970: 2. Hawkes Bay Herald, 1 February 1861: 2.  Daily Southern Cross, 15 May 1868: 2.  Ibid: 14 November 1864: 2. Ibid: 22 March 18.

[4] Ibid: 24 November 1866: 2.

[5] Tauranga Argus, 1 December 1866: 2.

[6] Auckland Star, 6 June 1921: 7.

[7] New Zealand Mail, 8 March 1879: 21.

[8] Bay of Plenty Times, 27 May 1879: 3. 15 March 1872: 7.

[9] Mariana C. Cussiolil, Karin R. Bryan, Conrad A. Pilditch and Willem P. De Lange, ‘Dispersal of Dredging Plumes in Tauranga Harbour, New Zealand: Field Study.’ Australasian Coasts & Ports Conference, 15-18 September 2015, Auckland, mc204@students.waikato.ac

[10] Port of Tauranga. Port History to Modern Day, https://www.port-tauranga.co.nz›uploads›

 Illustration Credits

Hamley, Joseph Osbertus, 1820-1911; Williams, Edward Arthur, 1824-1898, ‘HMS Esk; stuck with the Maoris taken prisoner at Rangiriri, 1863-1865’, E-047-q-031, National Library of New Zealand, Wellington.

 Szirmay, Frank, ‘Tangaroa’ (1976), Port of Tauranga, Bronwyn Holloway Smith, Public Art Heritage, Aotearoa New Zealand, Tauranga City Council Art Collection.

 ‘S.S. “Taupo” as she lies on the rocks at Stoney Point, Tauranga Harbour. Photographed at low water on the afternoon of April 9th [1879], by Charles Spencer’. Tauranga City Libraries, Te Ao Marama. Ref. 05-445

 De Maus, David Alexander, 1847-1925: ‘Steamship Penguin at Port Chalmers’. Ref: 1/1-003381-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/22384677.

 Panepane Point, Matakana Island, photo/file. Kiri Gillespie, ‘Matakana Island proposal: Panepane Point plan prompts encouraging level of interest’. Bay of Plenty Times, 27 August 2020.

Tauranga Railway Wharf Cargo Shed

by Guest Author Max C. Avery

For nearly 40 years the cargo shed on the Railway Wharf was the very busy hub of Tauranga’s mercantile marine commercial trading. It remains the only substantial architectural feature of the Tauranga water-front of the previous century - a reminder of bygone days when the wharf was crowded with sailing scows, coastal and trans-Tasman steamers and motor ships.

Railway Wharf, early 1930s
Real photo postcard, photographed and published by Robert J. Rendell
Tauranga Heritage Collection Ref. 0318/10

The shed had its origins in a 1919 proposal for development of the Port of Tauranga by engineer J. Blair-Mason, commissioned by the Tauranga Harbour Board (THB): “The construction of the quay proposed as part of the railway works at Tauranga should meet the needs of the coastal trade for some time to come, and allow for berthing a superior and large class of vessel,” the engineer surmised. At the time Tauranga had only the Town Wharf (off Wharf Street) and the Victoria Wharf (off Harrington Street), of which Blair observed: “None are adapted for berthing large vessels, or for the rapid handling of cargo and the quick dispatch of vessels.” With remarkable optimism and foresight, they recommended the construction of 9530 ft of berthage at Tauranga and 13,170 ft of berthage at Mount Maunganui.

Unidentified steamer arriving at the Railway Wharf, Tauranga, c. 1927-1935
Unmounted loose Velox print, postcard format, by unidentified photographer
Tauranga Heritage Collection Ref. 0692/08

However, the Public Works Department’s plan for a quay of about 710 ft at Tauranga prevailed. The East Coast Main Trunk Railway (ECMT) was then being built, and in February 1924 the bridge link to Matapihi was completed and the rails laid to the Town Wharf. Construction of the new wharf (which would be known as the Railway Wharf, as it carried a spur line from the ECMT) and the cargo shed began early in 1925 and was completed in 1927, although at first the wharf provided only 320 ft of berthage. The cargo shed, with sliding doors opening to the wharf on one side, and a landing for motor trucks on its Dive Crescent frontage, was a much-needed and much-utilised feature. When the last section of the ECMT (from Katikati to the Wairoa Bridge) was opened on March 28, 1928 the wharf went into full operation, with some cargo being transferred direct from ships’ holds to railway wagons, and other items into the shed or through to motor trucks, and vice versa.

“Dive Crescent – Situated at the north end of The Strand, is a hive of industry.”
Half-tone print used in Western Bay of Plenty Year Book, c. 1950s
Collection of John & Julie Green

Under the steady supervision of long-time wharfinger Jack Treweek, coasting vessels of all types, sailing scows, steamers, motor ships, and scows converted to mechanical propulsion, hailing from ports north and south, were found berths in order of their arrival. The masters of coasters like Clansman, Seagull, Kohi, Toa and Tuhoe had pilotage exemptions, and it was said they could smell their way up the Stella Passage in the dead of a dark and dirty night. All manner of general cargo, some bagged, boxed and baled, some in sacks and barrels, and drums, and individual items like machinery and motor vehicles, were hoisted onto the wharf using ship’s gear, for there were no wharf cranes. Steam and kerosene stationary engines hissed and banged as they turned the winches and capstans. The wharfies skilfully handled the ropes to land the cargo on big iron-wheeled trollies, to be trundled off to the cargo shed. There Jack Treweek, and the representatives of the Northern and Union Steam Ship Companies, if their ships were alongside, scanned cargo manifests and organised temporary storage in the cargo shed, or immediate onward carriage of goods.

“Three of a Kind: Aerial photo of the Company’s Hotunui, Nikau and Maunganui occupying the whole of the available berthage at Town Wharf, Tauranga, September 1955.”
Advertisement for The Northern Steamship Company Limited, mid- to late 1950s
Collection of John & Julie Green

Cargo over the railway wharf and through the cargo shed grew steadily. Until 1949 all imports were exclusively coastal in character and Tauranga’s wharf had never been busier. Ships were sometimes double-banked, awaiting a berth alongside the wharf. Tauranga Harbour board chairman Jock Reid reported a record 55,600 tons of cargo handled in 1953, and in June 1954 the New Zealand Herald surveyed Tauranga shipping and noted that that “Tauranga town wharf will remain the principal point for handling provincial and inter-island coastal cargo as well as a considerable tonnage of export timber, but further increased shed accommodation will be required.” However, the wharf and cargo shed were about to become victims of their own success, for in 1955 the chairman of the directors of the Northern Steamship Company was reported as saying that the inadequate port facilities at Tauranga were involving the company in losses on its provincial trades.

Railway Wharf, Dive Crescent, Tauranga, c. late 1960s
Loose silver gelatin print (90 x 128mm), photographed by Paul Anderson
Tauranga Heritage Collection Ref. 0063/15

By this time the Sleigh Line of Australia was sending its ships James Cook and Matthew Flinders to Tauranga to load cargoes of timber. L.B. Mckenzie and Bert Godfrey were busy pioneering this trade and Dive Crescent was becoming quite congested with New Zealand Lumber Company straddle trucks carrying packets of timber between road, rail and ship, while fork lifts handled exports from the Whakatane Board Mills. By 1957 the Northern Steamship Company was declaring that congestion was such that the company had to curtail its services to Tauranga.

Tauranga Railway Wharf Cargo Shed and warehouse, Dive Crescent, Tauranga, 1959
Medium format film negative, publ. Bay of Plenty Times
Copyright NZME, Collection of Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. gca-1156

The company was advised in June 1958 by the Tauranga Harbour Board that plans were in hand for the immediate construction of extra berthage space at the wharf, but it seems it was too little and too late. Load restrictions were placed on the deteriorating decking of the wharf, and the Mount Maunganui Wharf was then open and thriving. Within a few years the Northern Steamship Company flag would be only a memory at Tauranga. That situation applied also to most of the small coastal traders, as union activity saw them becoming increasingly uneconomic.

Tauranga Wharf railway lines being renovated, November 1964
Medium format film negative, publ. Bay of Plenty Times, 21 Nov 1964
Copyright NZME, Collection of Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. gca-7720

During the 1960s the trend in cargo handling was to bulk palletisation and containerisation. Individual items were carried by more efficient road transport, and with fewer general goods there was less need for the cargo shed. In March 1965 Poranui was the last NSS Company coaster to visit the Railway Wharf. The occasional cattle carrier called, the Wilson Portland Cement Company’s bulk carriers continued to be regular visitors, but they had no use for the cargo shed. Yet the wharf still provided a useful berth. When harbourmaster Captain H.A.C. Hodkinson took a 441 ft Liberty ship up the Stella Passage the occasion went into the record book as the longest ship to berth at the Railway Wharf. THB pilot Captain John Weston created a new and enduring record on June 26, 1968 when he berthed the 460 ft log carrier Kyotaku Maru at the war, but the cargo shed remained largely idle.

H.M. Submarine Taciturn berthed at the Tauranga Export wharf (aerial view), July 1965
35mm format film negative, publ. Bay of Plenty Times, 19 July 1965
Copyright NZME, Collection of Tauranga City Libraries, Pae Korokī Ref. gcc-10375

The construction of the Tauranga Harbour Bridge and its opening on March 13, 1988 sealed the fate of the Railway Wharf and the cargo shed. From that date nothing larger than trawlers and launches could navigate the harbour south of Sulphur Point due to the height restriction caused by the bridge. The Railway Wharf continued to deteriorate and was in part demolished, but the cargo shed, still sound and weather-tight after nearly 40 years as the hub of Tauranga’s maritime commerce, was hereafter used for a variety of social purposes.