Steam Tug Lyttleton.
The latter part of 1907 was a memorable time to be at Lyttelton, the port of the city of Christchurch on New Zealand's South Island. Dr Hammersley imported the first pair of Belgian Barge dogs, Sir Ernest Shackleton arrived on the Nimrod from London via Cape Town and the port's largest ever crowd; some fifty thousand came down to see him depart on his epic voyage to Antarctica. On the 11th September The Lyttelton Harbour Board took delivery of it's new tug, which had made the twelve thousand mile voyage from the Clyde under her own steam.
Nearly a century later, the Canterbury, subsequently renamed Lyttelton after her contemporary sister, can still be found docked at the No. 2 Wharf opposite Norwich Quay. She was retired from service in 1970 and in the absence of an immediate buyer, the Tug Lyttelton Preservation Society was formed and took over the preservation of the vessel at the end of 1972. A year of hard work was needed to re-commission the ship and many fund raising projects were required to buy the extra equipment necessary to obtain a New Zealand Marine Department Passenger Survey Certificate. She commenced her new role as a passenger vessel late in 1973 and it is hoped that she will continue to display a part of the historic past for many years to come. Original public domain image from Flickr