The TSS Earnslaw is a 1912 Edwardian twin screw steamer based at Lake Wakatipu in New Zealand.
It is one of the oldest tourist attractions in Central Otago, and the only remaining commercial passenger-carrying coal-fired steamship in the southern hemisphere.
The Earnslaw was designed by naval architect Hugh McRae and was based on a Siemens-Martin steel hull design and using Kauri for the decking.
Propulsion was provided by twin coal-fired triple-expansion, jet-condensing, vertically inclined engines.
The keel was laid on 4 July 1911. The ship was named after Mount Earnslaw, a 2889-metre peak at the head of Lake Wakatipu. She was to be 51.2 metres long, the biggest boat on the lake, and the largest steamship built in New Zealand.
Transporting the Earnslaw was no easy task. When construction was finally completed, she was dismantled. All the quarter-inch steel hull plates were numbered for reconstruction much like a jig-saw puzzle. Then the parts were loaded on to a goods train and transported across the South Island from Dunedin to Kingston at the southern end of Lake Wakatipu.
After the hull was re-assembled, the TSS Earnslaw was launched on 24 February 1912. On 3 August, after the construction of the ship was fully completed, trials were commenced. On Friday 18 August 1912, the Earnslaw was fired up for her maiden voyage to Queenstown, with Minister of Marine John A. Millar as captain.
At present down Queenstown on the South Island . Some pics
Lake wakatipu . Only steam ship in souther hemisphere. Built in 1912 still going strong
Thanks for the photo's,brings back good memories .Looks like you stopped off at the Walter Peak Farm.
We just did the cruise, sorry we didn't do the stop off looks interesting We are waiting for the Bungee Jump shots.
It is one of the oldest tourist attractions in Central Otago, and the only remaining commercial passenger-carrying coal-fired steamship in the southern hemisphere.
The Earnslaw was designed by naval architect Hugh McRae and was based on a Siemens-Martin steel hull design and using Kauri for the decking.
Propulsion was provided by twin coal-fired triple-expansion, jet-condensing, vertically inclined engines.
The keel was laid on 4 July 1911. The ship was named after Mount Earnslaw, a 2889-metre peak at the head of Lake Wakatipu. She was to be 51.2 metres long, the biggest boat on the lake, and the largest steamship built in New Zealand.
Transporting the Earnslaw was no easy task. When construction was finally completed, she was dismantled. All the quarter-inch steel hull plates were numbered for reconstruction much like a jig-saw puzzle. Then the parts were loaded on to a goods train and transported across the South Island from Dunedin to Kingston at the southern end of Lake Wakatipu.
After the hull was re-assembled, the TSS Earnslaw was launched on 24 February 1912. On 3 August, after the construction of the ship was fully completed, trials were commenced. On Friday 18 August 1912, the Earnslaw was fired up for her maiden voyage to Queenstown, with Minister of Marine John A. Millar as captain.
From Wikipedia.