Dunedin (ship)
Encyclopedia
Refrigeration
Refrigeration is a process in which work is done to move heat from one location to another. This work is traditionally done by mechanical work, but can also be done by magnetism, laser or other means...
meat. In its capacity, it helped set the stage for New Zealand's success as a major provider of agricultural exports, notwithstanding its extreme remoteness from most markets.
Ship origins
The 1,320-ton, 73 metres (239.5 ft) Dunedin was built by Robert Duncan and Co at Port GlasgowPort Glasgow
Port Glasgow is the second largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16617 persons...
, Scotland, in 1874 at a cost of ₤23,750 (£1.6 million, in 2010 inflation-adjusted British pounds
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
). She was one of six 'Auckland' class emigrant vessels, designed to hold 400 passengers. In 1881, still painted in the original Albion Line colours of a black hull with a gold band and pink boot topping as shown, she was refitted with a Bell Coleman refrigeration machine with which she took the first load of frozen meat from New Zealand to the United Kingdom.
Meat industry
New Zealand in the 1870s produced a vast amount of wool, but the wool market was low. In the United Kingdom, the rapidly expanding population had outrun the supply of local meat, leading to rapid increases in price. Live shipment was prohibitively expensive. New Zealand did export some canned meat, but this industry was in its infancy, and the product was popular in the Pacific islands, but less so in the mother country.The first attempt to ship refrigerated meat was made when the Northam sailed from Australia to the UK in 1876, however the refrigeration
Refrigeration
Refrigeration is a process in which work is done to move heat from one location to another. This work is traditionally done by mechanical work, but can also be done by magnetism, laser or other means...
machinery broke down en route and so the cargo was lost. Later that year chilled beef was sent from the United States to Britain (a shorter journey, at cooler, higher latitude
Latitude
In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...
), and although spoilage was high, this voyage provided some encouragement to the antipodean promoters of refrigeration. In 1877 the Steamers Le Frigorifique and Paraguay carried frozen mutton from Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
to France, proving the concept, if not the economics. In 1879 the Strathleven, equipped with compression refrigeration, sailed from Sydney with 40 long tons (40.6 t) of frozen beef and mutton as a small part of her cargo, and this meat was found to be in good condition.
Refrigeration refit
William Soltau Davidson
William Soltau Davidson was the New Zealand pioneer of refrigerated shipping.-Early life:Son of Frances Pillans and bank manager David Davidson, William Davidson was born in Montreal, Canada. He attended the Edinburgh Academy, , before taking a position book keeping in Glasgow...
, sent an employee, Thomas Brydone, from New Zealand to investigate compression refrigeration units. In 1880 Davidson convinced the company to invest in refrigeration. Teaming up with James Galbraith
James Galbraith
James Galbraith is a politician in Manitoba. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1977 to 1981 for the riding of Dauphin....
of the Albion shipping company, they approached John Bell and Sons and J.J. Coleman, who had been behind the American chilled beef shipments.
As a result of negotiations, Albion agreed to refit the Dunedin with a Bell-Coleman compression refrigeration
Refrigeration
Refrigeration is a process in which work is done to move heat from one location to another. This work is traditionally done by mechanical work, but can also be done by magnetism, laser or other means...
machine—this worked by removing air, compressing it, then releasing it to a lower pressure refrigeration chamber—in this case the hold – where the air cooled as it expanded. Using 3 tons of coal a day, this steam powered machine could chill the hold to 40 degrees Fahrenheit (22 °C) below surrounding air temperature, freezing the cargo in the temperate climate of southern New Zealand, and then maintaining it beneath zero through the tropics. The Dunedin was refitted in May 1881, the most visible sign being a funnel for the refrigeration plant between her fore and main masts, (sometimes leading her to be mistaken for a steamship). The refitted Dunedin arrived in Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
's Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers is a suburb and the main port of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand, with a population of 3,000. Port Chalmers lies ten kilometres inside Otago Harbour, some 15 kilometres northeast from Dunedin's city centre....
at the end of November 1881.
1882 voyage
The NZALC was carrying 10,000 MerinoMerino
The Merino is an economically influential breed of sheep prized for its wool. Merinos are regarded as having some of the finest and softest wool of any sheep...
/Lincoln and Leicester crossbreed sheep on the Totara Estate near Oamaru
Oamaru
Oamaru , the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is 80 kilometres south of Timaru and 120 kilometres north of Dunedin, on the Pacific coast, and State Highway 1 and the railway Main South Line connects it to both...
. A slaughter works was built close to the rail head there. From 6 December 1881 this herd was slaughtered at Totara Estate and sent overnight by goods trains with a central block of ice to be loaded on the Dunedin, where they were sewn into calico bags and frozen. To prove the process, the first frozen carcases were taken off the ship, thawed and cut.
After 6 days of loading, the crankshaft of the compressor broke, damaging the machine's casing and causing the loss of the 640 sheep stowed. It took a month for a local machinist to rebuild the crankshaft and associated machinery, during which time all but 2 of the 60 booked passengers found alternative travel. The frozen carcasses were resold locally during this time, and encouragingly they were considered indistinguishable from fresh meat.
In February 1882, the Dunedin sailed with 4331 mutton, 598 lamb and 22 pig carcasses, 246 kegs of butter, as well as hare, pheasant, turkey, chicken and 2226 sheep tongues. Some problems came from sparks from the compressor's boiler which provided a fire hazard on a sailing ship, and air flow in the refrigerated hold; Captain Whitson at one point developed hypothermia
Hypothermia
Hypothermia is a condition in which core temperature drops below the required temperature for normal metabolism and body functions which is defined as . Body temperature is usually maintained near a constant level of through biologic homeostasis or thermoregulation...
while working alone in the air duct.
The Dunedin arrived in London 98 days after setting sail. Carcasses were sold at the Smithfield market
Smithfield, London
Smithfield is an area of the City of London, in the ward of Farringdon Without. It is located in the north-west part of the City, and is mostly known for its centuries-old meat market, today the last surviving historical wholesale market in Central London...
over two weeks by John Swan and Sons, who noted butchers concerns about the quality of meat from the experimental transport; "Directly the meat was placed on the market, its superiority over the Australian [frozen] meat struck us, and in fact the entire trade". Although crossed with the primarily wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
bearing Merino
Merino
The Merino is an economically influential breed of sheep prized for its wool. Merinos are regarded as having some of the finest and softest wool of any sheep...
, the well fed New Zealand sheep weighed an average of over 40 kilograms (88.2 lb), and some exceeded 90 kilograms (198.4 lb). Just a token single carcass was condemned.
Establishing an industry
The shipment caused The TimesThe Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
to comment "Today we have to record such a triumph over physical difficulties, as would have been incredible, even unimaginable, a very few days ago...". After meeting all costs, The NZALC made a £4700 profit from the voyage. The first commercially successful shipment of frozen meat, it effectively launched the industry and assured New Zealand's early dominance in it. The Marlborough
Marlborough (ship)
The Marlborough was a large iron-built sailing merchant ship which disappeared in 1890. She was built by the firm of Robert Duncan and Co., Port Glasgow and launched in 1876 for her owner Mr. J...
—sister ship to the Dunedin – was immediately converted and joined in the trade, the following year, with rival New Zealand Shipping Company vessel the Mataurua, while the German Steamer Marsala began carry frozen New Zealand lamb in December 1882. Within 5 years, 172 shipments of frozen meat were sent from New Zealand to the United Kingdom, (of which only 9 had significant amounts of meat condemned). Refrigerated shipping also led to a broader meat and dairy boom in Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
and South America. Frozen meat and Dairy exports continued to form the backbone of New Zealand's economy until the UK's entry into the European Economic Community
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) The European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993The information in this article primarily covers the EEC's time as an independent...
in 1974 led to New Zealand produce being excluded by the EEC's trade bans.
Disappearance
The Dunedins sister ship, Marlborough was converted to refrigeration as soon as the success of the venture was proven, and carried her first shipment in 1882. The Dunedin and Marlborough continued in the frozen meat trade until both were lost in 1890. The Dunedin and the Marlborough disappeared, having set sail from New Zealand simultaneously with two other refrigerated ships bound for the UK. A boat, camp, and skeletons of some of Marlborough's crew were supposedly found on Tierra Del FuegoTierra del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of a main island Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego divided between Chile and Argentina with an area of , and a group of smaller islands including Cape...
, although this story has been debunked. No trace was ever found of the Dunedin. It is thought a wager on the first arrival may have led to risks being taken; at the time it was presumed the Dunedin hit an iceberg off Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
.