Southern Cross (Melanesian Mission ship series)

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Southern Cross No. 4
Southern Cross No. 5
Southern Cross No. 7

Southern Cross is the name given to each of a succession of ships serving the

Church of the Province of Melanesia.[1] The first ship having this name succeeded the Undine, a 21-ton schooner built at Auckland
and in service from 1849 to 1857.

Ships

Southern Cross No. 1

Southern Cross 1 was a schooner of 100 tons, built by Messrs. Wigram of Blackwall Yard, England in 1855; for £1,500. She arrived in New Zealand on 19 July 1855, and she was wrecked on 18 June 1860 at the mouth of the Ngunguru River, New Zealand, during an easterly gale. The first Southern Cross was funded by subscriptions provided by supporters of the Melanesian Mission. These included Charlotte Mary Yonge, who contributed the profits of her book The Daisy Chain.[2][3][4]

Southern Cross No. 2

Southern Cross 2 was a 93-ton yawl-rigged brigantine, which was built at Southampton and was in service from 1863 to 1873. This ship carried Bishop John Patteson to Nukapu where he was killed, His death was followed by the punitive expedition to the island in 1871 and 1872.[5]

Southern Cross No. 3

Southern Cross 3 was a three-

John Coleridge Patteson. This ship was in service from 1874 to 1892.[citation needed
]

Southern Cross No. 4

Southern Cross 4 (British Registry Official Number 98988) was a three-masted schooner,

King Island, Tasmania in 1920.[6]

Southern Cross No. 5

Southern Cross 5 was a steel three-masted schooner with an auxiliary steam engine. This ship was built in

]

Southern Cross No. 6

Southern Cross 6 was steamer of 500 tons. The ship was wreaked in November 1932 on its first voyage into the islands. She was caught in a squall and driven onto a coral reef near Aneityum island of Vanuatu.[5][7][8]

Southern Cross No. 7

Southern Cross 7 (also known as Akanina, “the ship of all of us”) arrived in Tulagi harbour several months after the loss of Southern Cross 6 and her cargo, due to the immediate action by the Melanesian Mission Secretaries in both England and New Zealand. She was a twin-screw diesel powered ship, with a length of 110 feet and a breadth of 28 feet.[9] She was 298.33 tons gross. She was sold in 1955.[2][5][10]

Southern Cross No. 8

Southern Cross 8 arrived in Honiara, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands from Australia after 1955, and she was wrecked soon after during a storm at Maravovo on the north west coast of Guadalcanal.[10]

Southern Cross No. 9

Southern Cross 9 was built in Australia in 1962 at the request of the

Alfred Thomas Hill. She is currently in service after refurbishing and rededication in 2005 by Archbishop Ellison Pogo.[citation needed] As of late 2009, the ship was based at the Taroaniara Anglican Mission Station on the Nggela Islands.[11]

References

  1. .
  2. ^ a b "In the Solomons and other islands of Melanesia". Diocese of Melanesia. November 1943. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  3. ^ "Pacific Progress 1849 -1949". Diocese of Melanesia. March 1949. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  4. ^ Ashwell, B. Y. "Journal of a visit to the Loyalty, New Hebrides, and Banks' Islands, in the Melanesian Mission schooner the Southern Cross, with an account of the wreck of that vessel". Melanesian Mission. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  5. ^ a b c "Pacific Progress 1849-1949". Diocese of Melanesia. March 1949. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  6. ^ "View Shipwreck - Southern Cross". Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
  7. ^ "Wreak of the Southern Cross VI". III(4) Pacific Islands Monthly. 23 November 1932. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  8. ^ "Story of Shipwreak". III(6) Pacific Islands Monthly. 25 January 1933. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  9. ^ "New Melanesian Mission Ship". IV(4) Pacific Islands Monthly. 22 November 1933. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  10. ^ a b Mountfort, C. L. (February 1994). "The Long Dark Island". The Desk Top Press. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  11. ^ "Fox Memorial Cross dedicated". Melanesian Messenger Online. Church of the Province of Melanesia. Retrieved 2 June 2013.

External links