Built under yard no 602 by the yard of Wm Denny and Bross., Dumbarton, England for the New Zealand Shipping Co.
01 Nov. 1898 launched under the name PAPANUI, named after a suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand.
Tonnage 6.372 gross, 4.099 net, 9.440 dwt., dim. 430.0 x 54.1 x 30.1ft., draught 27.0ft.
Powered by a triple expansion 3 cyl. steamengine manufactured by Denny & Co., Dumbarton, 4.124 ihp., speed 13.6 knots during trials. One screw, she was the last vessel built for the company with one screw.
Passenger accommodation for 34 first, 45 second and 400 steerage.
Refrigerated space 225.900 cub. feet.
Building cost £90.700.
26 Dec. 1898 delivered to owners.
12 Jan. 1899 sailed on her maiden voyage from London bound for Wellington via the Cape of Good Hope.
Made first a call at Hobart before crossing the Tasman Sea for New Zealand, after loading in New Zealand in different ports she sailed via Cape Horn back to England.
18 March 1901 arrived at Vigo. Spain with in tow the disabled French barque MARTHE MARGUERITE who had lost her rudder.
22 Oct. 1901 arrived at Vigo with her bunkers on fire when on a voyage from New Zealand to Plymouth.
Many times used by the company as replacement in the liner service between New Zealand and England when the original ships for this line were disabled or dry-docked, otherwise mostly used with emigrants to New Zealand and her outbound voyage only loaded with reefer or general cargo.
28 April 1909 suffered a minor fire in Victoria Docks at London, 38.000 sheep carcasses were destroyed and one man was killed during the fire.
End 1909 again in the liner service, and after departing from Hobart she struck an uncharted rock of North Waterhouse Island inward bound to Beauty Point on 13 Dec. 1909. After temporary repairs there she sailed across the Bass Strait to Melbourne were she arrived on 19 Jan. 1910, and put in dry-dock. After the water was pumped out of the dock it was found that many bottom-plates were missing or badly buckled, and considerable damage caused by the water.
The cost of repairing the vessel was not justified, and she was sold by auction to Mr. H.A.Visbord at Melbourne on 23 May 1910. The sale fell trough, and she was reclaimed by the NZSC in July.
05 July 1910 her register was transferred to Melbourne by the NZSC.
13 Oct. 1910 again sold in a public auction to a Mr. J.Paterson at Melbourne, he found the cost of repairing the ship in Australia to high, and the port authorities refused a clearance when the ship was in this damaged state. To got around this problem he closed on 21 Nov. 1910 her registration in Melbourne and she was re-registered in Nicaragua, and on 5 December she slipped out of Melbourne without a clearance and pilot and steamed to Nagasaki, Japan, with a large hole in her bottom and floating on her double bottom tanks. Arrived on 3 Jan. 1911 at Nagasaki.
After repairs she sailed again on 5 March bound for Melbourne were she arrived on 31 March.
She was then registered at Melbourne under the ownership of H.C.Sleigh and H.B.Black on 21 April 1911.
The Australian Shipping Co managed her.
At that time many passengers from Australia wishing to travel to England for the coronation of King George V in June 1911. She sailed on 10 May from Melbourne with a full-booked passenger accommodation, bound for Liverpool. After disembarking the passengers, she sailed coastwise to London for loading and embarking of 364 emigrants for Australia. On 25 August she sailed from London with the emigrants and 108 crew, as reported without a Bill of Health clearance. The intended passage was around Cape of Good Hope but before she reached this point, on 05 Sept. 1911 a fire broke out in her bunker coal stored in hold no 3. She arrived at St Helena on the 11th and was beached at Jamestown. She was abandoned the next day, and it was reported that the fire was out on the 19th.
The passengers were later picked up by the OPAWA on October 14th and transported to Cape Town.
A plaque on the library wall at Jamestown, St Helena recorded the thanks of the rescued to the islanders for looking after them for five weeks.
The charred hulk of the PAPANUI was later scuttled.
St Helena 1984 50p sg441, scott?
Passenger Ships of Australia & New Zealand. By Peter Plowman. Crossed Flags by W.A.Laxon. I.J. Farquhar, N.J.Kirby and F.W.Perry. Register of Merchant Ships Completed in 1898.