HMS Taiaroa (1883)

HMS Taiaroa was a colonial service Defender-class torpedo boat designed by Thornycroft & Company for the defence of New Zealand. She was named after Te Matenga Taiaroa, a 19th-century Māori chief of the Ngāi Tahu iwi. She was built at Chiswick in 1883 and shipped to New Zealand, where she was assigned to the defence of Port Chalmers.

A Defender-class torpedo boat, clearly showing the spar torpedo
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Taiaroa
Ordered	26 August 1882[1]
Builder	John I. Thornycroft & Company
Cost	£12,600 for four boats
Yard number	169[1]
Launched	10 August 1883[1]
Commissioned	19 September 1883[1]
Fate	Broken up
General characteristics
Class & type	Defender-class torpedo boat
Displacement	12 tons
Length	62 ft 10 in (19.15 m)
Beam	7 ft 6 in (2.29 m)
Installed power	173 hp (129 kW)
Propulsion	Two-cylinder compound-expansion steam reciprocating engine 130lb/sq in Locomotive boiler,
Speed	17.2 kn (31.9 km/h)
Complement	7[1]
Armament	One McEvoy Spar torpedo (later augmented by two 18" Whitehead torpedoes) One 2-barrelled Nordenfelt gun[1]

Service

On 1 February 1884^[1] Defender and Taiaroa were shipped aboard the sailing ship Lyttelton from London to Port Chalmers, New Zealand. Taiaroa was sent to Deborah Bay, at Port Chalmers (port of the city of Dunedin), where a boat house was established for her.^[2]

She received a pair of 18-inch Whitehead torpedoes that had been fitted at build to her two sisters, Waitemata and Poneke.^[1] These had to be dropped together to avoid unbalancing the boat's narrow hull. All four boats of the class quickly became obsolete, and before 1900 had fallen out of use.

Fate

After falling into disuse, she is believed to have been broken up. The mole built for the use of Taiaroa is now used as a pull-off carpark on the harbour road.