NZGSS Hinemoa was a 542 ton New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 Government Service Steamer designed specifically for lighthouse support and servicing, and also patrolled New Zealand's coastline and carried out castaway checks and searched for missing ships. It operated in New Zealand's territorial waters

Territorial waters

Territorial waters, or a territorial sea, as defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is a belt of coastal waters extending at most from the baseline of a coastal state...

 from 1876 to 1944. It had a sister ship, the GSS Stella, which carried out similar duties over the time period. It was instrumental in supplying many of the government castaway depot

Castaway depot

A castaway depot is a store or hut placed on an isolated island to provide emergency supplies and relief for castaways and victims of shipwrecks...

s on the remote Sub-Antarctic islands

New Zealand sub-antarctic islands

The five southernmost groups of the New Zealand Outlying Islands form the New Zealand Sub-Antarctic islands. These islands are collectively designated as an UNESCO World Heritage Site....

, and rescued a number of shipwreck victims, including those from the wreck of the Dundonald

Dundonald (ship)

The Dundonald was a steel, four-masted barque of 2205 tons, which was launched in Belfast in 1891. She was shipwrecked in 1907 in the New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands...

 and the Anjou

Anjou (ship)

The Anjou was a 1642 ton, French steel barque built in 1899. It was wrecked in the Auckland Islands in 1905.-Wreck:The Anjou was sailing from Sydney to Falmouth with a cargo of wheat. In foggy weather at 8.30pm on 5 February 1905 it struck rocks at Bristow Point, Auckland Island. The ship listed to...

.

Captain John Fairchild used the steamer to survey the Bounty Islands

Bounty Islands

The Bounty Islands at are a small group of 13 granite islets and numerous rocks, with a combined area of , in the south Pacific Ocean that are territorially part of New Zealand. They are located between 47°44'35" and 47°46'10" S, and 179°01' and 179°04'20" E, southeast of the South Island of New...

 and Antipodes Islands

Antipodes Islands

The Antipodes Islands are inhospitable volcanic islands to the south of—and territorially part of—New Zealand...

 in 1886, and the Herekino Harbour and the Whangape Harbour

Whangape Harbour

Whangape Harbour is a harbour on the west coast of Northland, New Zealand. There is a settlement also called Whangape on the northern side of the harbour, and another called Pawarenga on the southern side. The Herekino Harbour and settlement are a few kilometres to the north, and the Hokianga is to...

 entrance in 1889.
In 1891, while under the command of Captain Fairchild, the Hinemoa searched New Zealand's subantarctic and outlying islands for traces of the missing ships Kakanui and Assaye. While no trace was found of the former, the Assaye was suspected foundered off The Snares

The Snares

Snares Islands/Tini Heke is a small island group situated approximately 200 kilometres south of New Zealand's South Island and to the south-south-west of Stewart Island/Rakiura. The Snares consist of the main island North East Island and the smaller Broughton Island as well as the somewhat...

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The Hinemoa provided assistance to the 1907 Sub-Antarctic Islands Scientific Expedition

1907 Sub-Antarctic Islands Scientific Expedition

The 1907 Sub-Antarctic Islands Scientific Expedition was a New Zealand scientific expedition organised by the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury...

, a substantial scientific expedition sponsored by the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, where important observations on the natural history of the islands were made. They were published in a two-volume work in 1909, edited by professor Charles Chilton

Charles Chilton (zoologist)

Charles Chilton was a New Zealand zoologist, the first rector to be appointed in Australasia, and the first person to be awarded a D.Sc. degree in New Zealand.-Biography:...

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Captain John Bollons

John Bollons

John Peter Bollons, ISO, was a New Zealand marine captain, naturalist and ethnographer. For many years he captained New Zealand government steamers, including the NZGSS Hinemoa, which undertook lighthouse work and patrols through New Zealand's subantarctic islands. Bollons Island, in the...

 was a notable master of the steamer from 1898; Bollons Island in the Antipodes Islands

Antipodes Islands

The Antipodes Islands are inhospitable volcanic islands to the south of—and territorially part of—New Zealand...

 is named after him. Another to serve aboard the Hinemoa was William Edward Sanders

William Edward Sanders

William Edward Sanders VC, DSO was a New Zealander recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces....

, who won a Victoria Cross

Victoria Cross

The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....

during World War I.

After its decommission in 1944, it was rejected for scrapping due to an oversupply at the time.

External links

• New Zealand Maritime Record: Hinemoa
• Cruises of the New Zealand Government Steamer Hinemoa 1906 - Scan of diary kept by Sanders whilst on the vessel.