This was quite a distressing page for me to produce, as I believe this ship was in salvageable condition. Having been involved in a failed attempt to save her and bring her back to New Zealand in 2003, I was really upset to find she had been cut up. Only the Wheelhouse and machinery have been saved for future preservation. An x-ray of her hull five years ago, found her to be in excellent condition. Unfortunately, due to the prohibitive costs of chartering one of the dockwise transport ships, all plans to bring her back to more friendly waters had to be abandoned.

Built by Lobnitz and Co in 1939 she was similar to the W C Daldy in many ways. Her engines were slightly less powerful, rated at 750 shaft hp each.

Another kick in the teeth is the fact that she was scrapped on the hundredth anniversary of her sister ship, the Steam Tug Lyttelton, which is preserved and available for charter in Christchurch.

RIP Lyttelton II

The images above were kindly provided by Seapix-Online. High resolution copies are available Here! All images are © Andrew Mackinnon. Please note that full descriptions are also available for the images here as well.

More Information about this vessel can be found here. Thanks a lot Melbourne, your really committed to preservation! You could have offered some of the scrap money you made to the Steam Tug Lyttelton in Christchurch, New Zealand.