Kiakia

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john sefton
Posts: 1816
Joined: Sun Mar 22, 2009 1:59 pm

Kiakia

Post by john sefton » Sat Aug 03, 2013 10:34 pm

KIAKIA. Ketch used for carrying mail in Gilbert & Ellis Is during reign of King George VI. Two masts the smaller one being stepped forward of the rudder head - Gilbert & Ellis Is 1974. 10c. SG233 (LB 6/14)

aukepalmhof
Posts: 7771
Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:28 am

Re: Kiakia

Post by aukepalmhof » Mon Aug 05, 2013 12:07 am

Not much more on her, but she was the medical yacht for the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony.
Built Hong Kong in 1937.
Length 70.8ft.
Ketch rigged.

A ship for the Medical department was built in Hong Kong and was completed on 21 September, 1938. She was named RSC KIAKIA and was arrived in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands on 9 November the same year. The purpose of the KIAKIA was to transport referred patients from outer islands to the Central Hospital in Tarawa, returning treated patients to their home islands, transporting medical supplies and touring Medical Officers to outer islands. However the problem of transportation started over again when the KIAKIA was not operating according to its intention. Firstly the KIAKIA was used by the Fiji Naval Volunteer Reserve in Fijian waters during the World War II and, secondly, the KIAKIA was used as public transport to transport passengers and cargo, police officers and prisoners between the islands. The SMO, Dr M Rose, wrote to the Resident Commissioner that there was insufficient room on the ship for referral cases to be admitted to the Central Hospital hence it defeated the purpose of the ship. The Resident Commissioner forwarded the Medical Department proposal to the Western High Commissioner in Suva, Fiji, in 1949 with regard to the exclusive use of the KIAKIA by the Medical Department. In correspondence with the Western High Commissioner on the matter, the Resident Commissioner suggested that it would be better to operate the KIAKIA to its full economic capacity because the Colony still faced financial constraints and the cost of operating the ship between the islands of the Colony was very high

Fate unknown. (People said vaguely "she went up on a reef" but nobody seemed to know where)

From the net I got this image of the stamp which is not so clear.

Source: Internet
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