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Union Steam Ship maps, plans and ship drawings
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Archives IdentifierAF090Date Range1873-1998DescriptionThis series contains construction and maintenance plans relating to ships operated or leased by the Union Steam Ship Company (USSCo) in the course of its business. While the bulk of plans in this series relate to ships, there are also plans for buildings they built or occupied and details of the equipment used by the company. The earliest ship plans are from 1873, there are very few drawings held for ships built before the 1920s.
How the company organised these plans originally has not been fully documented, but by the 1930s earlier filing systems had been reorganised and split into two different storage systems, largely based on the type of media the plan was drawn on. For each subject (or ship) an overarching numbering sequence was used. For example the SS Korowai has plans numbered 1-64. Then, within that, any plans on paper were held in a set of pigeon holes. It is possible that each ship was given its own pigeon hole(s), but this has not been confirmed. The Pigeon Hole number and plan number were usually written on the back of the plan. An entry for this would look like: Koranui 111/1 – which means Pigeon Hole 111, plan number 1 of the Koranui plan set. Plans on tracing linen were held in sets of drawers labelled with an alpha numeric sequence. The reference was then usually written on the back of the plan. An entry for this would look like: Koranui No2 N2 – this means the Subject is the Koranui, the drawing is plan number 2 of the Koranui plan set and it is located in Drawer N2. There was some crossover between the two systems, and there are examples of two copies of a plan, one from each system. The system appears to have been used by the company at least into the 1980s.
The ships drawings are generally of vessels either owned or leased by the USSCo or managed by them on behalf of other companies. There are also a number of drawings in this series of non-USSCo ships that the Company held plans of, presumably for reference purposes. These tend to be less detailed than those for Company managed vessels. The series contains very few plans of ships that were operated by the USSCo before 1930. Usually when a ship was sold, any drawings held were passed on to the new owner. After about 1930 the USSCo appears to have had a policy of retaining copies (usually tracings) of the general arrangement and deck layout plans of all ships. At some point in the 1980s/90s the plans were re-arranged into bundles by subject and stored in plastic bags. The plans have now been removed from these bags, but the subject order has largely been retained. The plans are roughly arranged alphabetically.
For ships the following has been recorded in the title field: the name of ship, any prefix it might have had, any previous name and for USSCo owned ships the date it was began service with the company. Eg “MONOWAI II, SS (ex RAZMAK) - in USSCo's Fleet from 1930”. As many of the USSCo ships were built in classes, one set of drawings can relate to more than one ship. So plans for a particular ship may be found in more than one item across this series. For example, item 105 holds plans specifically for the MV Kurutai, while item 106 holds plans which relate to both the MV Kurutai and the MV Kowahi. The ship plans may include: general arrangement, sectional elevations, structural sections, mid-ship sections, deck plans, capacity plans and lines plans.
Not all ships have a full set of drawings; generally the more recent the ship, the more complete the plans will be. Plans of things other than ships have been organised into five groupings, each with its own prefix in the Title field:
• Proposed Ships General ship designs which may or may not have been built.
• Ship Equipment and fittings Plans of general equipment and fittings used by many different ships.
• Charts, Soundings and Wharf Particulars Details of the depths of harbours and wharf facilities used by the company.
• Buildings and Structures Plans of buildings and structures owned or used by the company. Can include construction and/or concept drawings.
• Miscellaneous Any plans that don’t fit into one of the other groups.
The Date Field in the database has been used to record the dates found on the plans. For ships, some plans are dated long after the ship was built, eg a ship built in 1895 may only have plans dated 1920, so the date recorded will be 1920. If no date was found on the plan, then the construction date of the ship has been recorded with ‘Circa’ in front of it. For other types of plans, if no date was found then it has been entered as UNKNOWN. Various prefixes are used with ships. The following is a list of those used in this series: GMV – Government Motor Vessel GTEV – Gas Turbine Electric Vessel HMAS – His/Her Majesties Australian Ship HMNZA - His/Her Majesties New Zealand Ship HMT - His/Her Majesties Transport MV – Motor Vessel (interchangeable with MS) MS – Motor Ship (interchangeable with MV) MT – Motor Tanker RMS – Royal Mail Ship RV – Research Vessel SS – Steam Ship TSS – Turbine Steam Ship TSMV – Twin Screw Motor Vessel (interchangeable with TSMS) TSMS - Twin Screw Motor Ship (interchangeable with TSMV) TEV – Turbine Electric VesselQuantity (Linear Metres)46MediumPlanSystem of ArrangementAlphabetical. Imposed numbering sequence.Collection TypeWellington Museums Trust
How the company organised these plans originally has not been fully documented, but by the 1930s earlier filing systems had been reorganised and split into two different storage systems, largely based on the type of media the plan was drawn on. For each subject (or ship) an overarching numbering sequence was used. For example the SS Korowai has plans numbered 1-64. Then, within that, any plans on paper were held in a set of pigeon holes. It is possible that each ship was given its own pigeon hole(s), but this has not been confirmed. The Pigeon Hole number and plan number were usually written on the back of the plan. An entry for this would look like: Koranui 111/1 – which means Pigeon Hole 111, plan number 1 of the Koranui plan set. Plans on tracing linen were held in sets of drawers labelled with an alpha numeric sequence. The reference was then usually written on the back of the plan. An entry for this would look like: Koranui No2 N2 – this means the Subject is the Koranui, the drawing is plan number 2 of the Koranui plan set and it is located in Drawer N2. There was some crossover between the two systems, and there are examples of two copies of a plan, one from each system. The system appears to have been used by the company at least into the 1980s.
The ships drawings are generally of vessels either owned or leased by the USSCo or managed by them on behalf of other companies. There are also a number of drawings in this series of non-USSCo ships that the Company held plans of, presumably for reference purposes. These tend to be less detailed than those for Company managed vessels. The series contains very few plans of ships that were operated by the USSCo before 1930. Usually when a ship was sold, any drawings held were passed on to the new owner. After about 1930 the USSCo appears to have had a policy of retaining copies (usually tracings) of the general arrangement and deck layout plans of all ships. At some point in the 1980s/90s the plans were re-arranged into bundles by subject and stored in plastic bags. The plans have now been removed from these bags, but the subject order has largely been retained. The plans are roughly arranged alphabetically.
For ships the following has been recorded in the title field: the name of ship, any prefix it might have had, any previous name and for USSCo owned ships the date it was began service with the company. Eg “MONOWAI II, SS (ex RAZMAK) - in USSCo's Fleet from 1930”. As many of the USSCo ships were built in classes, one set of drawings can relate to more than one ship. So plans for a particular ship may be found in more than one item across this series. For example, item 105 holds plans specifically for the MV Kurutai, while item 106 holds plans which relate to both the MV Kurutai and the MV Kowahi. The ship plans may include: general arrangement, sectional elevations, structural sections, mid-ship sections, deck plans, capacity plans and lines plans.
Not all ships have a full set of drawings; generally the more recent the ship, the more complete the plans will be. Plans of things other than ships have been organised into five groupings, each with its own prefix in the Title field:
• Proposed Ships General ship designs which may or may not have been built.
• Ship Equipment and fittings Plans of general equipment and fittings used by many different ships.
• Charts, Soundings and Wharf Particulars Details of the depths of harbours and wharf facilities used by the company.
• Buildings and Structures Plans of buildings and structures owned or used by the company. Can include construction and/or concept drawings.
• Miscellaneous Any plans that don’t fit into one of the other groups.
The Date Field in the database has been used to record the dates found on the plans. For ships, some plans are dated long after the ship was built, eg a ship built in 1895 may only have plans dated 1920, so the date recorded will be 1920. If no date was found on the plan, then the construction date of the ship has been recorded with ‘Circa’ in front of it. For other types of plans, if no date was found then it has been entered as UNKNOWN. Various prefixes are used with ships. The following is a list of those used in this series: GMV – Government Motor Vessel GTEV – Gas Turbine Electric Vessel HMAS – His/Her Majesties Australian Ship HMNZA - His/Her Majesties New Zealand Ship HMT - His/Her Majesties Transport MV – Motor Vessel (interchangeable with MS) MS – Motor Ship (interchangeable with MV) MT – Motor Tanker RMS – Royal Mail Ship RV – Research Vessel SS – Steam Ship TSS – Turbine Steam Ship TSMV – Twin Screw Motor Vessel (interchangeable with TSMS) TSMS - Twin Screw Motor Ship (interchangeable with TSMV) TEV – Turbine Electric VesselQuantity (Linear Metres)46MediumPlanSystem of ArrangementAlphabetical. Imposed numbering sequence.Collection TypeWellington Museums Trust
Maps and Plans
TEV Hinemoa, arrangement showing positions of SW flushing valves and SW, CFW and HFW shut-off valves
Document Folder
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Related Agencies
Controlling or Creating AgencyUnion Steam Ship Company of New Zealand LtdRelationship Date Range1875-30 November 2001
Union Steam Ship maps, plans and ship drawings. Archives Online, accessed 02/11/2024, https://archivesonline.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/2437