SS Go Ahead
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
| {{Infobox ship begin
}} {{Infobox ship image | Ship image = Go-ahead 1870.jpg | Ship caption = S.S. Go Ahead 1867-1887 }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship builder = Thomas B Seath & Co, Upper Clyde | Ship flag = 70px | Ship name = Go Ahead | Ship namesake = | Ship owner = *1867-1870 Clyde Shipping Co
| Ship operator = | Ship registry = | Ship route = | Ship ordered = | Ship acquired = | Ship country = New Zealand | Ship original cost = | Ship yard number = | Ship way number = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = 20 April 1867 | Ship sponsor = | Ship christened = | Ship completed = | Ship awarded = | Ship commissioned = | Ship homeport = Auckland until 10 January 1878, then Wellington | Ship identification = 56189 | Ship maiden voyage = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship renamed = | Ship reclassified = | Ship refit = | Ship struck = 20 May 1887 | Ship reinstated = | Ship recommissioned = | Ship decommissioned = | Ship motto = | Ship nickname = | Ship honours = | Ship honors = | Ship captured = | Ship fate = Grounded at Cape Kidnappers in fog | Ship notes = | Ship badge = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Ship draught = {{convert|4|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} | Ship class = | Ship type = Topsail schooner | Ship tonnage = Registered 82 tons dwt | Ship displacement = | Ship tons burthen = | Ship length = keel {{convert|110|ft|m|abbr=on}}, overall {{convert|120|ft|m|abbr=on}} | Ship beam = {{convert|20|ft|m|abbr=on}} | Ship power = | Header caption = | Ship draft = | Ship depth = | Ship hold depth = {{convert|6|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}} | Ship decks = | Ship deck clearance = | Ship ramps = | Ship ice class = | Ship height = | Ship propulsion = *Twin 2cyl (9"x 12") 30nhp, 2-screw
| Ship crew = | Ship time to activate = | Ship range = | Ship endurance = | Ship test depth = | Ship boats = | Ship capacity = | Ship troops = | Ship complement = | Ship sail plan = | Ship speed = {{convert|9|knot|abbr=on}} | Ship sensors = | Ship EW = | Ship armament = | Ship armour = | Ship armor = | Ship aircraft = | Ship aircraft facilities = | Ship notes = }} |
SS Go Ahead was a twin screw-steamer, launched on the afternoon of Saturday 20 April 1867 by Seath and Connell, of Rutherglen, for the Clyde Shipping Company, with a plan to use her in New Zealand coastal trading.{{Cite web|date=24 Jun 1867|title=ENGLISH SHIPPING. DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DSC18670624.2.5.8|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} She had 30,{{Cite web|date=1878|title=Marine Department Annual Report|url=https://atojs.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/atojs?a=d&d=AJHR1878-I.1.1621|access-date=2020-09-24|website=atojs.natlib.govt.nz|page=23}} or {{Convert|35|hp||abbr=on}}, high pressure engines, and tubular boilers from Campbell & Son's foundry.{{Cite web|date=23 November 1867|title=Customs Entries. Otago Daily Times|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT18671123.2.6|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}
Go-a-head left Glasgow on 10 May and sailed to Melbourne, arriving on 2 November.{{Cite news|date=1867-11-05|title=SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.|pages=2|work=Bendigo Advertiser (Vic. : 1855 - 1918)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87956008|access-date=2020-09-24}} An attempt to sell her failed, so on 2 December 1867{{Cite news|date=1867-12-03|title=SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.|pages=2|work=Bendigo Advertiser (Vic. : 1855 - 1918)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87956566|access-date=2020-09-24}} she left Hobson's Bay{{Cite web|date=17 December 1867|title=Telegrams. Wellington Independent|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WI18671217.2.4.2|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} with a full cargo for Westport (then called Buller).{{Cite web|date=14 December 1867|title=Grey River Argus|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/GRA18671214.2.3|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} She had to sail for an additional 12 days to get to Buller, where she briefly landed on the North Spit.{{Cite web|date=17 December 1867|title=Imports. Grey River Argus|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/GRA18671217.2.3.2|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} This time she was advertised by Wellington agents, A. P. Stuart & Co, the sale notice saying she had, "a draught of 4 feet of water, will carry 1000 sheep. Highly suited for trading between this and the West Coast."{{Cite web|date=3 December 1867|title=Hawke's Bay Herald|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HBH18671203.2.7.2|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} The "highly suited" and "Must be sold, owner leaving the colony"{{Cite web|date=4 January 1868|title=Wellington Independent|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WI18680104.2.2.5|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} claims may not have been true; she used her engines to get from Buller to Wellington, but, "finding steam could not be maintained with the bad coals she had on board, she ran for Nelson for better fuel".{{Cite web|date=3 January 1868|title=Shipping Intelligence. Colonist|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TC18680103.2.14|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}
She finally reached Wellington on 4 January 1868.{{Cite web|date=6 January 1868|title=Shipping. Lyttelton Times|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/LT18680106.2.3|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} Initially she was to sail for Napier,{{Cite web|date=7 January 1868|title=Wellington Independent|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WI18680107.2.2.2|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} but additions and repairs,{{Cite web|date=9 January 1868|title=Wellington Independent|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WI18680109.2.2.2|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} apparently amidst some delay,{{Cite web|date=25 January 1868|title=Evening Post|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP18680125.2.13.6|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} strife over payments{{Cite web|date=22 February 1868|title=Shipping. Wellington Independent|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WI18680222.2.15|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} and a failure to sell her,{{Cite web|date=8 February 1868|title=Arrived. Wellington Independent|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WI18680208.2.5.1|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} left her lying at Queen's wharf for months. A trial trip to Evans Bay showed the boiler was too small. There was a rumour of her carrying cattle from Whanganui to the West Coast{{Cite web|date=5 May 1868|title=Telegrams. Wellington Independent|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WI18680505.2.4.2|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} and she was advertised many times,{{Cite web|date=19 May 1868|title=Wellington Independent|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WI18680519.2.2.1|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}{{Cite web|date=28 May 1868|title=Wanganui Herald|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WH18680528.2.11.1|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}{{Cite web|date=18 August 1868|title=Wellington Independent|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WI18680818.2.2.1|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}{{Cite web|date=26 August 1868|title=Evening Post|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP18680826.2.12.2|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} before going with Captain Mundle{{Cite web|date=29 August 1868|title=Wanganui Herald|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WH18680829.2.6|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} to Auckland in August.{{Cite web|date=29 August 1868|title=Port Of Wellington. Evening Post|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP18680829.2.3.4|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}
Initial Routes
During her 19 years in New Zealand waters Go-ahead visited most of the ports around the country.
When she was eventually sold to Auckland, the Thames gold rush was on, so Lalla RookhSee Lalla Rookh (ship). and Go-ahead{{Cite web|date=2 September 1868|title=Monthly Shipping Summary. New Zealand Herald|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH18680902.2.45|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} started on that route, with Go-ahead taking her first 25 passengers from Auckland on Tuesday 1 September 1868.{{Cite web|date=3 September 1868|title=Telegrams. Wellington Independent|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WI18680903.2.5|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} She went to Bay of lslands on 16 September,{{Cite web|date=15 September 1868|title=Daily Southern Cross|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DSC18680915.2.2.1|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} it becoming a regular run,{{Cite web|date=25 January 1869|title=Port Of Auckland. Daily Southern Cross|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DSC18690125.2.3.1|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} until SS Tauranga sank on 23 July 1870 and Go Ahead replaced her on the Tauranga route.{{Cite web|date=10 Aug 1870|title=DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DSC18700810.2.2.2|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} In 1868 she visited Russell{{Cite web |date=3 December 1868 |title=SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE. PORT OF AUCKLAND. Daily Southern Cross |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DSC18681203.2.3 |access-date=2023-07-14 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} and called there regularly{{Cite web |title=Steam Vessels to which Certificates have been issued in New Zealand during the Financial Year 1868-9. |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1869/I/1601 |access-date=2023-07-07 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} for about a year.{{Cite web |date=1 June 1869 |title=SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE. Daily Southern Cross |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DSC18690601.2.3 |access-date=2023-07-14 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}
In 1875 Go Ahead was reported to have done five return trips for Auckland Steam Packet Co. between Auckland, Gisborne and Napier, four trips between Manukau, New Plymouth and Wanganui, and a round trip to Auckland via Wellington and Napier. In 3 months 12 days she burnt 289 tons of coal to cover {{Convert|6644|mi||abbr=on}}, or {{Convert|97|lb||abbr=on}} per mile.{{Cite web|date=29 May 1875|title=AUCKLAND STEAM PACKET COMPANY (Limited). DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DSC18750529.2.25|access-date=2020-09-25|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}
Then she visited many more ports, including Raglan in 1876,{{Cite web|date=6 May 1876|title=The Glenlora. Auckland Star|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS18760506.2.3.5|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} Napier, Gisborne, Thames, Auckland in 1877,{{Cite web|date=2 May 1877|title=PROJECTED DEPARTURES. HAWKE'S BAY HERALD|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HBH18770502.2.3.3|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} occasionally called at other ports such as Tauranga when in need of shelter on the way,{{Cite web|date=14 Mar 1877|title=SHIPPING. PORT OF TAURANGA. BAY OF PLENTY TIMES|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/BOPT18770314.2.3|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} as well as covering for Rotomahana on the Thames run.{{Cite web|date=11 Oct 1877|title=THAMES ADVERTISER|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THA18771011.2.5|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}
On 10 January 1878 Auckland Steam Packet Co. sold Go-Ahead for £2500 to what was described as a newly formed Auckland company.{{Cite web|date=12 Jan 1878|title=TELEGRAPHIC. COLONIST|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TC18780112.2.5|access-date=2020-08-28|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}
Incidents
Go Ahead had her own collision problem when she was said to be “going ahead full speed” on 3 September 1870 and collided with Ivanhoe not far from the spot where Tauranga sank, near Whangārei Heads. A Court of Inquiry found both masters at fault; Go Ahead had no forward lookout. There was little damage.{{Cite web|title=Marine News 1981 Vol 31 Issue 03|url=https://www.nzshipmarine.com/nodes/view/1800|access-date=2020-09-24|website=New Zealand Ship and Marine Society}}
In 1877 Go Ahead stranded for a while on the South Spit whilst leaving Gisborne,{{Cite web|date=3 May 1877|title=WRECK OF THE S.S. GO AHEAD. AUCKLAND STAR|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS18770503.2.24|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} and at one point was thought to be beyond salvage,{{Cite web|date=5 May 1877|title=THE S.S. GO AHEAD. AUCKLAND STAR|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS18770505.2.15|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} not being able to be beached for repairs for about 3 weeks,{{Cite web|date=26 May 1877|title=HAWKE'S BAY HERALD|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HBH18770526.2.3.5|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} whilst reports continued to say she was abandoned.{{Cite web|date=2 Jun 1877|title=Local and General. BAY OF PLENTY TIMES|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/BOPT18770602.2.9|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} A court decided the captain's mistake wasn't sufficient to suspend his certificate{{Cite web|date=9 Jun 1877|title=Local and General. BAY OF PLENTY TIMES|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/BOPT18770609.2.7|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} and the ship was back on a slipway on Auckland's North Shore, awaiting repairs, by July.{{Cite web|date=16 Jul 1877|title=NEW ZEALAND HERALD|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH18770716.2.2.7|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} Gouk & Cardon's £1400 tender for repair was accepted.{{Cite web|date=27 Jul 1877|title=EVENING POST|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP18770727.2.12.3|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} At that time she was insured for £4,000.{{Cite web|date=8 May 1877|title=SHIPPING SUMMARY. NEW ZEALAND HERALD|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH18770508.2.49|access-date=2020-09-25|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}
In 1878 she broke down in a storm and had to sail to Onehunga.{{Cite web|date=20 Aug 1878|title=TELEGRAPHIC SHIPPING. HAWKE'S BAY HERALD|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HBH18780820.2.3.4|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} Next year she broke a propeller.{{Cite web|date=8 Jan 1879|title=PORT OF WANGANUI. WANGANUI CHRONICLE|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WC18790108.2.3.1|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}
Those incidents maybe prompted her new owners, Johnston & Co, to give her more powerful engines,{{Cite web|date=20 Jun 1879|title=PORT OF WANGANUI. WANGANUI CHRONICLE|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WC18790620.2.3.1|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} lengthen{{Cite web|date=23 May 1867|title=DISCOVERY OF THE SIR DONALD. Gisborne, This Day. EVENING POST|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP18870523.2.30|access-date=2020-09-25|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} and reboiler her in 1879.{{Cite web|date=10 Dec 1879|title=THE WATERWORKS LOAN. EVENING POST|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP18791210.2.9|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}
An 1879 collision with Hura,{{Cite web|date=3 Feb 1879|title=TO-DAY'S TELEGRAMS. ASHBURTON HERALD|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ASHH18790203.2.11|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} or Huia, off Ohau Point, again caused only minor damage{{Cite web|date=5 Feb 1879|title=COLLISION BETWEEN THE STEAMERS GO-AHEAD AND HUIA OFF OHAU POINT. WANGANUI CHRONICLE|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WC18790205.2.4|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} and, again, both captains were blamed, but their certificates weren't suspended.{{Cite web|date=19 Feb 1879|title=EVENING POST|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP18790219.2.9|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}
Later routes
From 1878 she served Wellington-Napier{{Cite web|date=22 Jul 1878|title=EXPECTED ARRIVALS. HAWKE'S BAY HERALD|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HBH18780722.2.3.5|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} but also continued to visit Gisborne and Auckland{{Cite web|date=1 May 1878|title=SHIPPING. NEW ZEALAND HERALD|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH18780501.2.3|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} sometimes via Castle Point{{Cite web|date=10 Jun 1878|title=SHIPPING. PORT OF WELLINGTON. EVENING POST|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP18780610.2.3|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} but also working on the west coast to Whanganui,{{Cite web|date=19 Jun 1878|title=BY TELEGRAPH. EVENING POST|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP18780619.2.4|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} about a 24-hour trip from Wellington.{{Cite web|date=1 Feb 1879|title=PORT OF WANGANUI. WANGANUI CHRONICLE|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WC18790201.2.3.1|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} Occasional visits took Go Ahead as far as Onehunga{{Cite web|date=17 Jul 1878|title=WANGANUI HERALD|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WH18780717.2.14.5|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} and also to Waitara and Rangitīkei Port in 1878.{{Cite web|date=11 Dec 1878|title=CARNARVON. MANAWATU TIMES|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MT18781211.2.8|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}
Foxton was visited in 1879,{{Cite web|date=12 Feb 1879|title=SHIPPING. PORT OF WELLINGTON. ARRIVALS. EVENING POST|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP18790212.2.3|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} and she began serving southern ports at Dunedin, Oamaru,{{Cite web|date=4 Mar 1879|title=SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE. PORT OF OAMARU. NORTH OTAGO TIMES|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NOT18790304.2.3|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} Timaru{{Cite web|date=10 Apr 1879|title=SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE. PORT OF OAMARU. NORTH OTAGO TIMES|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NOT18790410.2.3|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} and sometimes Kaikōura and Lyttelton.{{Cite web|date=6 Aug 1880|title=PORT OF WELLINGTON. EVENING POST|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP18800806.2.3.1|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}
After her 1879 repair she was described as almost a new ship and continued to serve Castlepoint, Napier{{Cite web|date=27 Jan 1880|title=SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE. WANGANUI HERALD|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WH18800127.2.3|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} and, after a long absence, Whanganui.{{Cite web|date=3 Apr 1882|title=A NEW LOCAL INDUSTRY. WANGANUI HERALD|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WH18820403.2.7|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} For a long time in the 1880s Go-Ahead served Wellington, Dunedin,{{Cite web|date=1 January 1886|title=Shipping News. New Zealand Mail|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZMAIL18860101.2.79|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} Whanganui, Napier and ports in between.{{Cite web|date=4 January 1886|title=Wairarapa Daily Times|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WDT18860104.2.13.8|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}
Wreck
Her final grounding came in 1887. She went ashore in "terribly thick weather" at Cape Kidnappers at 2am.{{Cite web|date=23 May 1887|title=Wreck of the Go-Ahead. Daily Telegraph|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DTN18870523.2.24|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} James Gunning, a stoker was drowned. The fog was thick enough for Go Ahead to be in the breaking waves before it was known that anything was wrong. She later turned bottom upwards and largely broke up. Her insurance value with Union was £5,500.{{Cite web|date=23 May 1887|title=Wreck of the Go-Ahead. One Life Lost. Poverty Bay Herald|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/PBH18870523.2.12|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}
The wreck inquiry found that Go-Ahead left Wellington for Napier on 18 May at 6pm, passed Cape Turnagain a day later, at 6pm on the 19th, and Blackhead at 9pm. By 1am on Friday 20th 1887 the wind and sea were increasing and Captain Plumley thought he was about six miles north of Cape Kidnappers and considered that Go Ahead was making 8½ to 9 knots. The Court considered that he was guilty of negligent navigation in trying to cut the headland too fine in the foggy weather and suspended his certificate for three months;{{Cite web|date=3 June 1887|title=Wreck Of The Go-Ahead. New Zealand Mail|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZMAIL18870603.2.98|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} by September, Captain Plumley was commanding the steamer Wallabi.{{Cite web|date=12 September 1887|title=Departures. Hawke's Bay Herald|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HBH18870912.2.3.3|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}
Banner & Liddle sold the hull and machinery to Mr. J. Hawkins for £13.{{Cite web|date=1 June 1887|title=Second Edition. Daily Telegraph|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DTN18870601.2.23|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} The Fairy was used to attempt salvage, but with limited success{{Cite web|date=22 March 1888|title=Departure. Hawke's Bay Herald|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HBH18880322.2.3.3|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} due to poor weather. Another attempt with Bella was made to recover the boiler,{{Cite web|date=26 June 1888|title=Port of Napier. Hawke's Bay Herald|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HBH18880626.2.3.1|access-date=2020-09-24|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} but it was still there in 1937.{{Cite web|date=15 Dec 1937|title=POVERTY BAY HERALD|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/PBH19371215.2.189.24|access-date=2020-09-25|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} A bell and compass from the ship were recovered and the boiler was said to be still there in 2011.{{Cite web|title=Steamer Newspaper Article|url=https://knowledgebank.org.nz/text/steamer-newspaper-article/|access-date=2020-09-25|website=knowledgebank.org.nz|language=en-NZ}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://knowledgebank.org.nz/text/steamer-newspaper-article/ 1992 newspaper article]
- [https://knowledgebank.org.nz/still_image/steamer-compass/ Photo of compass]
- [https://knowledgebank.org.nz/still_image/steamer-lifebuoy/ Photo of ship's bell and lifebelt]
{{Coord|39|38|40|S|177|05|35|E|display=title}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Go Ahead, SS}}
Category:Ships built in Glasgow
Category:Steamships of New Zealand