Bay Harbour: September 27, 2023
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<strong>Bay</strong> <strong>Harbour</strong> News Wednesday <strong>September</strong> <strong>27</strong> <strong>2023</strong><br />
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Torpedo boat Defender moored by the dry dock, Lyttelton Port c1886-99.<br />
Te Ūaka The Lyttelton Museum ref. 14986.102<br />
https://www.teuaka.org.nz/online-collection/1136111<br />
<strong>2023</strong><br />
Our Stories<br />
of Living and Learning<br />
Discover and explore the heritage of our communities<br />
with over two weeks of walks, talks, open days,<br />
exhibitions and more!<br />
ccc.govt.nz/heritagefestival<br />
Defender of Lyttelton:<br />
Torpedo boat No 168<br />
FOR MUCH of the 19th century the<br />
British Empire was in fierce competition<br />
with the Russian Empire, from Crimea<br />
on the Black Sea to Central Asia and the<br />
threshold of the British Raj on the Indian<br />
subcontinent.<br />
By the early 1800s, the growing reach of<br />
the Imperial Russian Navy in the Pacific<br />
theatre was causing concern as far afield as<br />
Her Majesty Queen Victoria’s Australasian<br />
colonies. In response, the British colonial<br />
authorities in New Zealand began the<br />
construction of coastal fortifications<br />
around prominent ports, including the<br />
Port of Lyttelton. This was accompanied<br />
by the commissioning of four innovative<br />
naval vessels, spar torpedo boats, to bolster<br />
the coastal defences against the Russian<br />
threat.<br />
Torpedo Boat No 168, Defender, the<br />
first of four defender-class Thornycroft<br />
spar torpedo boats, was built in 1883 in<br />
Chiswick, London by John I Thornycroft<br />
& Co. Nineteen metres in length, she<br />
displaced 12 imperial tons and was steampowered<br />
with a 173hp (129kW) engine<br />
propelling a top speed of 17.5 knots.<br />
Armed with a McEvoy spar torpedo on her<br />
bow, and a two-barrel Nordenfelt machine<br />
gun, Defender was designed to ram and<br />
explosively breach enemy warships below<br />
their waterline.<br />
She was delivered to New Zealand<br />
in 1884 along with the Taiaroa (Port<br />
Chalmers), Waitemata (Devonport),<br />
and Poneke (Wellington). Defender was<br />
stationed in the Port of Lyttelton and<br />
initially moored off Gladstone Quay<br />
with <strong>Harbour</strong>master and Naval Brigade<br />
Captain Hugh McLellan commanding<br />
a crew of 10 Lyttelton Naval Volunteers,<br />
supported by five members of the Armed<br />
Constabulary.<br />
On January 1, 1885, Defender made her<br />
public debut at the New Year’s Day Regatta<br />
doing the rounds of the inner harbour to<br />
the cheers of some 10,000 spectators.<br />
• Turn to page 23<br />
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