{{Short description|UK Royal Mail Ship}} {{Use British English|date=August 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox ship |section1={{Infobox ship/image |image=RMS Port Kingston 1904.jpg |image_caption=''Port Kingston'' in 1905 }}
|section2={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header= |country= [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] |flag= {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|civil}} |name= *1904: ''Port Kingston'' *1911: ''Tahiti'' |owner= *1904: [[Elder Dempster Lines|Imperial Direct West Mail Co]] *1911: [[Union Company|Union Steam Ship Co of NZ]] |operator= *1904: Imperial Direct West Mail Co *1911: [[File:Union steamship co flag.svg|border|20px]] Union Steam Ship Co of NZ |registry= *1904: [[Port of Bristol|Bristol]] *1911: [[Port of London|London]] |route= 1904: [[Port of Bristol|Bristol]] – [[Kingston, Jamaica]] 1911: [[Port Jackson|Sydney]] – [[Wellington]] – [[Port of San Francisco|San Francisco]] |ordered= |builder= [[Alexander Stephen and Sons]], [[Clydebank]] |original_cost= |yard_number= 403 |way_number= |laid_down= |launched= 19 April 1904 |completed= |christened= |acquired= 1911 |maiden_voyage= |in_service= |out_of_service= |identification= *[[Official number]] 117715 *[[Code letters]] VTWG *{{ICS|Victor}}{{ICS|Tango}}{{ICS|Whiskey}}{{ICS|Golf}} |fate=Sank 17 August 1930 |notes= }}
|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |type= [[Ocean liner]] |tonnage= {{GRT|7585}}, {{NRT|4155}} |displacement= |length= {{cvt|460|ft|abbr=on}} |beam= {{cvt|55.5|ft|abbr=on}} |height= |draught= {{cvt|27|ft|abbr=on}} |depth= {{cvt|24.4|ft|abbr=on}} |decks= |ice_class= |power=1,443 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]] |propulsion= *2 × [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple expansion engines]] *2 × [[Propeller|screws]] |speed={{convert|17|kn|km/h|0|lk=in}} |capacity= *515 passengers (as built) *{{cvt|36370|cuft|0}} [[Reefer ship|refrigerated cargo]] |crew= 135 |notes= }} }}
'''RMS ''Tahiti''''' was a [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|UK]] [[Royal Mail Ship]], [[ocean liner]] and [[Reefer ship|refrigerated cargo ship]]. She was launched in 1904 in Scotland as '''RMS ''Port Kingston''''' for a subsidiary of [[Elder Dempster Lines]]. In 1911 the [[Union Company|Union Steamship Company of New Zealand]] bought her and renamed her ''Tahiti''.
In the [[World War I|First World War]] she was a [[Troopship|troop ship]]. In 1918 an outbreak of [[Spanish flu]] resulted in exceptionally high mortality amongst the troops aboard her. After the war she was returned to her owners.
In 1927 ''Tahiti'' [[Greycliffe disaster|collided with a ferry]] in [[Port Jackson|Sydney Harbour]], killing 40 ferry passengers. In 1930 ''Tahiti'' sank without loss of life in the South [[Pacific Ocean]] due to flooding caused by a broken propeller shaft.
==Characteristics and construction== Alexander Stephen and Sons of [[Govan]] on the [[River Clyde]] built the ship as ''Port Kingston'' for the Imperial Direct West Mail Company, which was a subsidiary of Elder Dempster Shipping Limited. She was [[ceremonial ship launching|launched]] on 19 April 1904<ref>{{cite web |url= http://clydeships.co.uk/view.php?year_built=&builder=&ref=16086&vessel=PORT+KINGSTON |title=Port Kingston |work=Scottish Built Ships |publisher=Caledonian Maritime Research Trust |access-date=15 December 2020}}</ref> and completed that August.<ref name=LR30>{{cite book |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/30/30b1157.pdf |year=1930 |title=Lloyd's Register |chapter=Steamers & Motorships |volume=II |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register |via=Plimsoll Ship Data |access-date=15 December 2020}}</ref>
She had berths for 277 first class, 97 second and 141 third class passengers on four decks and had a crew of 135.<ref name=FA>{{cite web |url= http://www.flotilla-australia.com/hmnzt.htm#04 |work= Flotilla Australia |title= HMNZT New Zealand Transport Ships |access-date= 15 December 2020 |archive-date= 14 June 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140614154934/http://www.flotilla-australia.com/hmnzt.htm#04 |url-status= dead }}</ref> She had refrigerated holds with a capacity of {{cvt|36370|cuft|0}}<ref>{{cite book |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/30/30a0643.pdf |year=1930 |title=Lloyd's Register |chapter=List of Vessels Fitted with Refrigerating Appliances |volume=I |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register |access-date=15 December 2020}}</ref> to carry fruit.
==Early career== ''Port Kingston'' served the [[Port of Bristol|Bristol]] to [[Kingston, Jamaica]] route, which she was able to cover in ten-and-a-half days.<ref>{{cite book |url= http://www.gutenberg.org/files/28533/28533-h/28533-h.htm#Page_162 |last=Tombs |first=RC |year=1905 |title=The King's Post |place=Bristol |publisher=WC Hemmons |page=162}}</ref> ''Port Kingston'' was beached in the [[1907 Kingston earthquake]] but was successfully refloated. She was laid up in 1910.<ref name=FA/>
==To New Zealand== In 1911 the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand bought ''Port Kingston'', had her refitted at Bristol and renamed her ''Tahiti''. She was intended for the route Sydney to San Francisco via [[Wellington]], [[Rarotonga]] and [[Tahiti]]. She began her first voyage on her new route on 11 December 1911.
==World War I== When the First World War began in 1914, ''Tahiti'' was requisitioned as the troop ship HMNZT ("His Majesty's New Zealand Transport") ''Tahiti''. She was part of the convoy transporting the First Detachment of the [[Australian and New Zealand Army Corps#World War I|Australian and New Zealand Imperial Expeditionary Forces]], which left [[King George Sound (Western Australia)|King George Sound]], [[Albany, Western Australia]] on 1 November 1914. On 11 September 1915 she reached Wellington with the first casualties from the [[Gallipoli campaign]].<ref name=FA/>
==The 1918 influenza pandemic== ''Tahiti'' left New Zealand on 10 July 1918 with 1,117 troops and 100 crew aboard, bound for England. When she met the rest of her convoy at [[Freetown]] in [[Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate|Sierra Leone]], reports of disease ashore led to a quarantine order for the ships. However, the ships were resupplied by local workers, and officers attended a conference aboard the [[Armed merchantman#Armed merchant cruisers|armed merchant cruiser]] {{HMS|Mantua}}, which had experienced an influenza outbreak three weeks earlier.
The first soldiers suffering from Spanish flu began reporting to the hospital aboard ''Tahiti'' on 26 August, the day that she left Freetown. By the time she arrived at [[HMNB Devonport|Devonport]] on 10 September 68 men had died and a further nine died afterwards, an overall [[mortality rate]] of 68.9 persons per 1,000 population. It is estimated that more than 1,000 of those on board had been infected with the disease. A later enquiry found that mortality was worst in those over 40 years and that those over 25 had a higher mortality than those under 25. Mortality was also higher in those sleeping in [[bunk bed]]s rather than in [[hammock]]s.
The conclusion of the enquiry was that overcrowding and poor ventilation had contributed to the exceptionally high infection rate and death toll.<ref>{{cite journal |url= http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/16/12/10-0429_article.htm |last1=Summers |first1=Jennifer |last2=Wilson |first2=Nick |last3=Baker |first3=Michael |last4=Shanks |first4=Dennis |publisher=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |title=Mortality Risk Factors for Pandemic Influenza on New Zealand Troop Ship, 1918 |journal=Emerging Infectious Diseases |volume=16 |issue=12 |date=December 2010|pages=1931–1937 |doi=10.3201/eid1612.100429 |pmid=21122224 |pmc=3294590 }}</ref> It was one of the worst outbreaks worldwide for the 1918/19 pandemic in terms of both [[morbidity]] and mortality.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.otago.ac.nz/wellington/otago023015.pdf |publisher=University of Otago |last1=Summers |first1=Jennifer |last2=Wilson |first2=Nick |last3=Baker |first3=Michael |last4=Shanks |first4=Dennis |title=Mortality Risk Factors in an Outbreak of Pandemic Influenza on a New Zealand Troop Ship in 1918}}</ref>
==The Greycliffe disaster== [[File:Part of the wreck hull from the ferry GREYCLIFFE (7778581018).jpg|thumb|left|Hull section of ''Greycliffe'' dragged to Whiting Beach, [[Sydney Harbour]].]] {{main|Greycliffe disaster}} In 1919 ''Tahiti'' was returned to her owners.<ref name="FA" /> In 1920 her furnaces were converted from coal firing to [[Bunker fuel|oil]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 June 1920 |title=Shipping. Otago Daily Times |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT19200604.2.10 |access-date=2024-09-22 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}</ref> and she made one voyage to [[Vancouver]], British Columbia. The next year she reverted to the San Francisco route.<ref name=FA/>
On 3 November 1927, ''Tahiti'' collided with the [[Watsons Bay]] ferry ''Greycliffe'' off [[Bradleys Head]] in Sydney Harbour. The crowded ferry was split in two and sank within three minutes.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://anmm.wordpress.com/2012/10/19/the-indescribable-horror/#more-8370 |publisher=Australian National Maritime Museum |work=Blog |title=The 'indescribable horror' |date=19 October 2012}}</ref> Of 120 passengers on the ferry, 40 were killed.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://perdurabo10.tripod.com/ships2/id49.html |title=The Greycliffe-Tahiti Disaster of 1927 |work=Ships 2 |first=James |last=Donahue}}</ref>
==Sinking== [[File:Photograph depicting the sinking of SS TAHITI (7771119458).jpg|thumb|left|[[Lifeboat (shipboard)|Lifeboats]] carry passengers from the sinking ''Tahiti'', 17 August 1930]] On 12 August 1930 ''Tahiti'', carrying 103 passengers, 149 crew members, and 500 tons of general cargo, left Wellington to continue a voyage from Sydney to San Francisco. She was about {{convert|480|nmi|lk=in}} southwest of [[Rarotonga]] at {{coord|20|43|S|166|16|W|name=RMS ''Tahiti''}} at 4:30 a.m. on 15 August 1930 when her starboard [[Drive shaft#Marine drive shafts|propeller shaft]] broke, opening a large hole in her [[stern]] and causing rapid flooding. Her wireless operator transmitted a distress call, and her crew launched distress signal rockets, prepared the passengers for the possibility of abandoning ship, and fought the flooding in an effort to save the ship.<ref name=casualty19300915>{{cite book |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/SOTON_Documents/Plimsoll/14053.pdf |title="Tahiti" (S.S.) Report on a shipping casualty to the steamship "Tahiti" |date=15 September 1930 |place=London |publisher=HMSO |via=Plimsoll Ship Data}}</ref>
At 10:10 p.m. on 16 August, the Norwegian steamship {{SS|Penybryn||2}} arrived to assist. ''Penybryn'' stood by ''Tahiti'' through the night of 16–17 August with her [[floodlight]]s illuminating ''Tahiti'' and her boats ready to go to the assistance of ''Tahiti''{{'}}s passengers and crew if needed.<ref name=casualty19300915/>
At 9:30 a.m. on 17 August, ''Tahiti''{{'}}s passengers and some of her crew abandoned ship, with all [[Lifeboat (shipboard)|lifeboats]] away in 13 minutes. Some of her crew remained aboard in order to continue efforts to slow the flooding. The US steamship {{SS|Ventura||2}} was just arriving on the scene, having signalled that she could take ''Tahiti''{{'}}s passengers and crew aboard, and she picked them up soon after they abandoned ship. Members of ''Tahiti''{{'}}s crew, aided by a boat from ''Penybryn'', then returned to ''Tahiti'' in ''Tahiti''{{'}}s boats and began to try to save the first class mails and luggage from the sinking ship.<ref name=casualty19300915/>
By 1:35 p.m. on 17 August, ''Tahiti'' was settling rapidly, and it became too dangerous for her crew to remain aboard. They abandoned ship, having saved the ship's papers and [[bullion]]. ''Tahiti'' sank, without loss of life, at 4:42 p.m. on 17 August 1930 at {{coord|24|44|S|166|15|W|name=RMS ''Tahiti''}}, about {{convert|460|nmi}} from Rarotonga.<ref name=casualty19300915/><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?32137 |publisher=Wrecksite |title=RMS Tahiti (+1930)}}</ref><ref name=Times190830a>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Tahiti |date=19 August 1930 |page=10 |issue=45595 |column=D }}</ref>
==Court of inquiry== A court of inquiry convened in Wellington, New Zealand, published its findings on the sinking in a report on 15 September 1930. The report was issued by the [[United Kingdom]]'s [[Board of Trade]] in [[London]] on 11 December 1930. The court found that the sinking resulted from a breakage of the starboard propeller shaft that not only punctured ''Tahiti''{{'}}s [[Hull (watercraft)|hull]] at her stern, admitting water to her shaft tunnel – which the court deemed survivable – but also tore a hole in the bulkhead that divided the shaft tunnel from her [[engine room]] and number 3 [[Hold (ship)|hold]]. The court found that the latter hole ultimately caused the ship to sink, as the increasing weight of water flooding the shaft tunnel widened the hole in the bulkhead despite the crew's effort to contain the flooding and eventually overwhelmed their damage control efforts.<ref name=casualty19300915/>
The court found both the crew and officials who had certified the ship's compliance with standards of seaworthiness blameless in the sinking, stated that the breaking of a propeller shaft was a common event at sea but the level of damage sustained by ''Tahiti'' in the breaking of her propeller shaft was exceedingly rare, and determined that ''Tahiti''{{'}}s sinking was "due to a peril of the sea which no reasonable human care or foresight could have avoided."<ref name=casualty19300915/>
The court commended ''Tahiti''{{'}}s [[Master mariner|Master]], TA Toten, for showing "resource and cool accurate judgment worthy of the highest praise," said that "all ranks under him responded to the example that he set,"<ref name=casualty19300915/> and noted the efforts of the ship's engineering staff, stating:
<blockquote>On the engineers and the engine room and stoke hold staff under them fell the brunt of the fight. For close on sixty hours, without sleep and without respite the engineers directed and waged a gallant losing fight against the relentless waters, working for long periods deep in water and in imminent danger of the collapse of the strained and partly rent bulkhead that imprisoned the wall of water high above them. It was their courage and endurance that made it possible for the master to delay until the propitious moment, the giving of the final order to abandon the ship.<ref name=casualty19300915/></blockquote>
The court concluded its report by stating "We deem it our duty to place on record this appreciation of the conduct of the master and all those under him."<ref name=casualty19300915/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{1927 shipwrecks}} {{1930 shipwrecks}}
{{Coord|-24.70|-166.25|display=title}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tahiti, RMS}} [[Category:1904 ships]] [[Category:Spanish flu pandemic]] [[Category:Ships built on the River Clyde]] [[Category:Maritime incidents in 1927]] [[Category:Maritime incidents in Australia]] [[Category:Merchant ships of New Zealand]] [[Category:Merchant ships of the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Ships of the Union Steam Ship Company]] [[Category:Steamships of New Zealand]] [[Category:Steamships of the United Kingdom]] [[Category:World War I auxiliary ships of New Zealand]] [[Category:Maritime incidents in 1930]] [[Category:Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean]] [[Category:Troop ships]]