Tag Archives: Flying Boats

Help Needed Identifying This Launch

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HELP NEEDED IDENTIFYING THIS LAUNCH

Recently WW received an email from Colin Davies in regard to the launch featured above. I’ll let Colin tell the story :- 

“Back in the 1930’s my late father Laurie Davies of Miramar, Wellington owned the above launch. Photo taken in Marlborough Sounds. Except for the photo I knew nothing and I have been trying to piece together the puzzle.
Based on the design of the wheelhouse, rectangular windows, stem and stern – I think Joe Jukes designed her and possibly built her, or Rex Rix built her. Similar but smaller than the ex work boat – Wild Duck. On WW there is a photo of Wild Duck attending the Flying Boat with a smaller sister ship (refer #1 below).

I also found several photos on the National Library website taken by Whites Aviation.  The key photo is the one looking south, Kilbirnie hills in the right background. The flying boat in the lower right, centre Wild Duck stern on and another launch on starboard side tied up alongside (refer #2 below). There is also a  bow on photo of Wild Duck on the left showing the side of another launch on the very left edge of the photo (refer #3 below). I am interested to know the name and whereabouts of the second launch and if it is still afloat. Based on all these photos I think it is my late fathers launch.

I estimate the length at 38 feet,  almost the same as Saint Antonio 40 feet, again similar above waterline hull shape. (refer #4 & 5 below) of St Antonio)”. 

Can we help Colin with his search to ID the launch and possibly uncover what became of her ?

#1
#2
#3
#4
#5

Mystery Launch 04-06-22

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Mystery Launch 04-06-22

I know there is a name (its very short) on the life rings but I can’t read it. But given the very distinctive design of the launch, I’m sure we can ID the boat.

I came from a very old file I had so hopefully I have not posted the image before 🙂

How Well Do You Know The WW Site ? Hopefully on Sunday (if Saturday is a crap weather day) I will do a story on the WW site, I have spoken to several people recently that were unaware of the full functionality of the WW site – so I’m putting together some ‘flying’ instructions.

Auckland Anniversary 1919 Regatta

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Screen Shot 2019-06-08 at 3.36.44 PM

Auckland Anniversary Regatta 1919

Todays photo is a gallery of photos from the 1919 Auckland Anniversary Regatta (Jan 29th) . A great collection, including the Walsh Brothers (Mission Bay) flying boats – what interests me is the two launches, centre left and right. Both look like they have a good turn of speed.
Can anyone ID them for us?
Photos appeared in the Feb 6th 1919 issue of the ‘Weekly News’ and come to us via Keith Humphreys fb
.
Harold Kidd Input – Nathan Herbert was right when he commented about the right hand launch, she’s the Lane DEFENDER, formerly SCRIPPS III, now with a dodger over the cockpit. The left hand launch is clearly Bailey & Lowe and I’m sure is WINSOME (I) although I can’t figure out her racing number. She’s too small for MANU.

Flying Boats

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w 21

w 57 with len southwards red head racing

w 64 all blacks 51 to aust

FLYING BOATS

I have been sent the above collection of b/w photos that John Bullivant found on a British seaplane site, it appears a lot of the photos are from our national library or similar.  They give a snap shot into the Teal flying boat history in Wellington. In them we see a large clinker launch, a work boat (Wild Duck which has an identical sister), a Civil Aviation flarepath launch (the dark stepped cabin launch to right of jetty) two different Teal launches (one from Auckland for some reason) Len Southwards Red Head racing one of the planes and a few views of the larger Teal launch.

The Teal launch appears to have the engine box towards the stern so may have had a v-drive (more room in the cabin / safety / noise perhaps?) The group of fine gentlemen in the Teal launch (pipes and all) are some of the 1951 All Blacks departing for the test in Australia.

Mechanics Bay 1945

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Mechanics Bay April 1945

photo ex James Dreyer ex ‘Old Auckland’ facebook

I thought it was time for an old b/w photo & a who can tell us more about the motor boats featured.

Updated ex Harold Kidd

My pennyworth is the the left hand launch is one of the Hubert Scott-Paine designed control tenders, built by his company, British Power Boat Co, in 1939 for Tasman Empire Airways Ltd for the flying boat base at Mechanics Bay and later copied here. They floated around between RNZAF and TEAL operated by the Civil Aviation Board so it’s hard to be precise, at this distance, on which one she was. The first Hythe-built one arrived on EMPIRE STAR in June 1939 and was 37ft 6ins x 8ft 6ins and had twin 100hp petrol engines (Meadows I think, as fitted to Invicta and Lagonda sports cars and those Bren Gun carriers which didn’t have Ford V8s). They were guaranteed to do 18 knots but could touch 25.
I think the middle launch is TASMANAIR, built for TEAL by Colin Wild in July 1941 with a very similar spec to the Scott-Paine boats, but had a large passenger capacity.
The right hand boat is possibly the Scott-Paine 23 foot aircraft tug brought out on the EMPIRE STAR in 1939, fitted with a single Meadows.
My Standard 5 and 6 classrooms at Devonport School, high up on Mount Victoria, had splendid views of proceedings at Mechanics Bay. We had one student teacher who would stop the class and let us see all departures and landings. There were some hairy ones, especially Catalinas in a strong westerly.

PS the little launch coming in at left is probably one of the locally-built runabouts used at Mechanics Bay for general purposes, often in charge of Flight Sergeant Johnny Wray of NGATAKI fame. Dave Jackson will probably be more precise on that one as his father was in the RNZAF Motorboat Section. It could even be the Collings & Bell 28 footer PIRI PONO which got rather modified by the Air Force and had a Chrysler Crown installed in place of its “orphan” 150hp Niagara..

Additional photo added ex Pam Cundy

Harold Kidd input

It’s a pity we can’t see if the Scott-Paine launch in the foreground of Pam’s pic has a W number on the bows, which would identify it precisely. My guess is that she’s W6 which was returned to Auckland in May 1944 from Lauthala Bay, Fiji. The plane in that image is an RNZAF Short Sunderland.
The planes in the top pic are the Short Empire class civilian flying boat ZK AMC “AWARUA” in the foreground, 3 RNZAF Sunderlands and an RNZAF Consolidated PBY5 Catalina at the rear. As a child, I thought it strange that AWARUA had been named after the Auckland Meat Company.