Steam Ferry Toroa Timeline
1923 Tenders close for new DSFCo ferry
1923 11 October Tenders close for the Devonport Steam Ferry Company’s new ferry to be constructed alternatively in wood and steel.
Read more1924 G.T. Niccol contracted to build new ferry
1924 January George Turnbull Niccol of St Marys Bay contracted to build a ferry for the Devonport Steam Ferry Co. on the model of The Peregrine. Triple-expansion…
Read more1925 New DSFCo ferry Toroa launched
1925 28th April The launch of the new ferry from George Niccol’s St Marys Bay shipyard. Named Toroa by Mrs J. Fotheringham, daughter of Mr. Ewen…
Read more1925 Trial run to Browns Island
1925 7th July Toroa’s trial run to Brown’s Island reported in the Auckland Star. Mr. Matthew Scott was Master, in the presence of a number…
Read more1925 Toroa put to work
1925 12 July Toroa commences work on the Auckland–Devonport run, running opposite SS Makora and taking over from SS The Peregrine. Ferry steamers at the Auckland…
Read more1927 Collision with cable ship
1927 16 June Toroa collides with the cable ship Iris in very heavy fog, after avoiding the cargo steamer West Calera. Damage to flagstaff (then stepped on…
Read more1928 Fast passage from Devonport
1928 17 October Quick ferry passage A report in NEWS OF THE DAY in the Auckland Star, 17th October, 1928: “A remarkably quick passage was made this…
Read more1930 1YA receiver installed, and removed
1930 A wireless set installed, enabling passengers to listen to 1YA, an Auckland radio station, but after a number of complaints – it interfered with conversation…
Read more1936 Ferry company livery changed
1936 Toroa overhauled and the hull repainted, the Devonport Steam Ferry Co. having changed from a light blue hull to the new livery of dark green…
Read more1937 Major overhaul; corrosion damage
1937 July In a major overhaul during annual survey, Toroa refastened with new galvanised steel planking bolts, the originals having suffered severe corrosion from galvanic action…
Read more1939 War-time numbers
1939 With the outbreak of the war, registration numbers issued to commercial ships working around New Zealand. Toroa’s number 2203 was painted on the lower bulwarks…
Read more1941 War-time blackout
1941 10 March Official war-time blackout required the cabin windows to be painted blue and all outside lights extinguished. Blackout test carried out.
Read more1941 Toroa stranded
1941 12 May Toroa stranded 200 yards from Devonport wharf – floated off next morning.
Read more1941 Collision with ferry Kestrel
1941 30 May Toroa in collision with sister ferry SS Kestrel off the corner of Queens Wharf.
Read more1944-45 Coal shortages
1944 & 1945 War-time shortages of coal become so severe that ferry services are threatened.
Read more1947 Jammed reversing gear
1947 4 January Toroa’s reversing gear jams and she strikes the wharf, damaging bow and bulwarks. [During later restoration of the reversing engine, it was found to…
Read more1947 Another stranding
1947 2 August Toroa again stranded.
Read more1949 Collision with jetty
1949 10 May Another collision with jetty. Flagstaff destroyed, bulwarks and rudder damaged.
Read more1948 Collision with cargo ship
1948 22 July Toroa in collision with a cargo ship, damaging her bulwarks and cabin top. During the later restoration of the cabin top, evidence of…
Read more1950s Rudder protection at berth
1950s Chafing pieces fitted to Toroa’s rudder to prevent damage when ferries were tied up at night. They were later removed.
Read more1959 Harbour Bridge opens
1959 30 May The opening of the Auckland Harbour Bridge, spelling the demise of many of the ferry runs, particularly the end of the vehicular ferry service. …
Read more1960 Canberra and collision with wharf
1962 May The berthing of large liners at the Auckland wharves could often cause the ferries problems and this day was no exception. Toroa was making her…
Read more1960 North Shore Ferry Co
1960 December The ferries Takapuna, Makora and Toroa taken over by Leo Dromgoole’s North Shore Ferries Ltd., and continue on the Devonport–Auckland run. Joined in 1961…
Read more1963 Another collision caused by tug sternwash
1963 20 February Approaching her berth at Auckland, Toroa was caught in the wash of two tugs berthing the liner Imperial Star and hit…
Read more1974 Makora decommissioned
1974 SS Makora decommissioned and her place taken by the ferry Kestrel. Makora was later to be broken up and buried in the St Mary’s Bay…
Read more1976 Marine radios to be fitted to the ferries
1976—1980 Radios to be fitted to the ferries The installation of marine radios in the ferries promoted after several mishaps and a ferry grounding in fog. …
Read moreToroa’s last run
1980 8 August Toroa’s last morning on the Devonport run, then the final voyage of her working life to the double-ender Death Row in St Marys…
Read more1981 Fullers to take over North Shore Ferries
1981 March George Hudson, founder of Fullers at Auckland, takes over the ferries from North Shore Ferries Ltd. with the intention of recommissioning both Kestrel and…
Read more1981 Ferries scrapped & buried; Toroa rescued
Ferries The Peregrine, Makora, Takapuna and the vehicular ferry Korea scrapped. The ferries were stripped of engines and fittings, cut down to the lower deck line…
Read more1985 Toroa Preservation Society formed to save Toroa
1985 21 March A group of interested parties form the Toroa Preservation Society to save Toroa, the last of the double-ended steam ferries, from the ship breakers.
Read more1988 Toroa slipped for inspection
1988 1 August Toroa slipped at Marine Steel slipway in Hamer St for hull inspection and anti-fouling. After the inspection, members of the Toroa Preservation Society Inc. produce…
Read moreToroa moved to Birkenhead
1990 25 February At the order of the Ports of Auckland, Toroa moved from Westhaven to settle at the Birkenhead Wharf on the North…
Read more1995 Ferro pontoons for floating dock
1995 Ferro-Cement pontoons The Toroa Preservation Society planned to build eight ferro-cement pontoons, employing Task Force Green workers, to raise the ferry out of the water and…
Read more1998 Toroa sinks at Birkenhead
1998 1 June Toroa sinks alongside Birkenhead Wharf during a severe storm with high winds from the southwest. Exactly what happened was not…
Read more1998 Toroa refloated on second attempt
1998 21 June Unsuccessful first effort to raise the Toroa with the Port Company’s floating crane Hikinui—as a result of insufficient lifting capacity and gear failure…
Read more1998 Pontoons completed, ready to lift Toroa
1998 October The ferro-cement pontoons complete and assembled, ready to lift Toroa from the water for restoration of the hull.
Read more1998 Toroa returns to Devonport; search for restoration site
1998 24 December Toroa moved to a new berth at Stanley Bay wharf. 1999 A substantial and prolonged but ultimately unsuccessful effort by the Toroa Preservation Society…
Read more2001-2008 Establishment; conservation plan; wheelhouses; fundraising
2001-2008 Establishing on site; the conservation plan; restoring the wheelhouses; fundraising; the first new ribs An intensive period of fundraising and design and infrastructure preparation for…
Read more2009-Present Renewing Toroa’s steel skeleton; acquiring the big timbers
2009-Present Renewing the steel skeleton; bringing in the timber The first set of new ribs installed in the boiler room; fabrication of floors and reverse frames…
Read more2001 Toroa brought ashore at Henderson in a triumph of Kiwi maritime & engineering ingenuity
7 May 2001 Resource consent granted by Waitakere City Council to establish Toroa on Radio New Zealand land by the radio mast at Selwood Road, Henderson….
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