Toroa (ferry)

Toroa
The Toroa on the Waitematā Harbour in the 1950s
History
NamesakeNorthern royal albatross
Owner
  • Devonport Steam Ferry Company Limited
  • New Zealand Maritime Trust
BuilderGeorge Niccol
Laid down1924
Launched28 April 1925
In serviceJuly 1925
Out of service8 August 1980
StatusUndergoing restoration
General characteristics
Tonnage309 GT
Length130.75 ft (39.85 m)
Beam31.4 ft (9.6 m)
Draft9.9 ft (3.0 m)
Depth9.6 ft (2.9 m)
Decks2
Installed powerAitchison, Blair Ltd Triple-expansion steam engine 51 horsepower (38 kW)
PropulsionTriple expansion steam engine
Speed11.25 knots (20.84 km/h; 12.95 mph)
Capacity
  • 1221 passengers river limits
  • 682 passengers extended river limits
Crew4

Toroa is a steam-powered Albatross-class passenger ferry that served Auckland, New Zealand from 1925 to 1980 before being laid up. As of 2025 the vessel is being restored.

History

Toroa was laid down in early 1924, and was launched on 28 April 1925,[1] with Mrs J. Fotheringham giving her blessing to the ship.[2][3] The ferry is named for the northern royal albatross. An official trial run to Browns Island (Motukorea) and back was completed on 6 July.[4] Toroa entered service in July, primarily travelling between the Devonport and Auckland CBD ferry terminals with her sister ship Makora.[3][5] The ferry is double-ended, with a propellor and wheelhouse at each end.[1] At her peak, she carried about 20,000 passengers a day.[5] After 55 years of service, she was laid up in 1980, and was set to be buried in land reclamation work at Westhaven along with ferries Korea, Makora, Takapuna, and The Peregrine.[6]

However, the vessel was saved after being purchased by the New Zealand Maritime Trust. A volunteer group, the Toroa Preservation Society, has worked towards a restoration. Toroa was towed to Birkenhead wharf by the tug William C Daldy but sank in a storm there in 1998.[5] She was raised on the second attempt, and brought ashore at Henderson in 2001.[5][6] Restoration work was continuing slowly but regularly in 2010.[5] Most of the steel framing of the vessel has had to be replaced, and both wheelhouses have been rebuilt.[7] The timber planks on the hull are being replaced by a mix of old kauri and new macrocarpa. Some of the timber was sourced from trees from a Henderson park that was damaged in a cyclone.[8]

The original steam engine is being restored. Following restoration, the boiler will be fueled by compressed wood waste instead of coal.[8]

Other Albatross-class ferries include[3]

  • Albatross
  • Kestrel
  • The Peregrine
  • Ngoiro
  • Makora

The Toroa was in the soap opera Shortland Street from 1993 to 1995.[9] It was initially the residence of Gina Rossi and Leonard Dodds, and later Lionel Skeggins, Stuart Neilson, Guy Warner and Carmen Roberts, but not at the same time. Skeggins and Kirsty Knight got married on the vessel.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b "New ferry steamer". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. LXII, no. 19003. 28 April 1925. p. 8 – via Papers Past.
  2. ^ "New ferry steamer". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. LXII, no. 19004. 29 April 1925. p. 13 – via Papers Past.
  3. ^ a b c Balderston, David (1986). The harbour ferries of Auckland (1st ed.). Grantham House. ISBN 1-86934-004-3.
  4. ^ "New ferry steamer - trial run of the Toroa". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. LXII, no. 19063. 7 July 2025. p. 7 – via Papers Past.
  5. ^ a b c d e Falconer, Phoebe (26 June 2010). "Observatory director behind Toroa Preservation Society". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  6. ^ a b Earley, Melanie (2 April 2022). "Volunteers work for decades to restore historic ferry next to Auckland motorway". Stuff. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  7. ^ Rees-Owen, Rose (7 October 2015). "Full steam ahead for Toroa restoration". Stuff. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  8. ^ a b "The painstaking, decades-long restoration of Auckland's Toroa steam ferry". RNZ. 19 September 2025. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
  9. ^ "1993 Toroa a film set for Shortland Street". Steam Ferry Toroa. 29 May 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
  10. ^ "Rolling in the Shortland Street aisles". NZ Herald. 29 August 2002. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
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