Pakeha
Ship Number
409
Vessel Type
Passenger / Cargo Ship
Built
Belfast
Yard
South Yard
Slip Number
5
Launch Date
May 26, 1910
Delivered
August 20, 1910
Owner
Shaw Savill & Albion Co.
Weight
7910 grt
BP Length
477 feet
Breadth
62-9 feet
No. of Screws
Twin
Speed (approx)
12.5 knots
Propulsion
quadruple expansion 4,990 ihp
Official No.
131759
Registered
Southampton
Fate
Scrapped
 Pakeha

[Harland and Wolff Collection]

Sister ship to the Rangitira, she had been designed, along with her sister ship, by captain RJ Noal ( Shaw Savill & Albion's marine super ) to carry immigrants to Australia / New Zealand via the cape of good hope, and return with frozen meat. She had an extra large funnel to aid a draught for her boilers, and to keep the smoke of the decks. She was a twin screw vessel, capable of doing 12.5 knot. She has accommodation for six first class passengers and a thousand steerage passengers.
 
In 1911 she was engaged on the Liverpool / Fremantle / Wellington service. She was still on this run in 1913.
 
In September 1916 under the command of captain R Lewis she took the 17th regiment reinforcements to the Gallipoli campaign and in April she took the 24th reinforcements out.  
 
In 1939 she was sold to the admiralty as a dummy battleship and re-named H.M.S Revenge, having her stern altered to resemble that of a cruiser, of the 'Royal Sovereign ' class   ( which she was to retain for the rest of her life ) she was later transferred to the  'Ministry of War Transport ' and used as a refrigerated cargo vessel with the new name of Empire Pakeh' and she was managed by Shaw Savill & Albion once again.
 
In 1946 Shaw Savill & Albion bought her back from the M.O.W.T. and she reverted back to her original name of Pakeha.
 
She was sold to Thomas W Ward of Briton Ferry in 1950 and scrapped.