December 1, 1958: The William C Daldy
was acknowledged for saving the harbour bridge
Auckland's steam tug,
WILLIAM C
DALDY
Named in honour of the first
chairman of the Auckland Harbour
Board, William Crush Daldy, the William
C Daldy is the youngest of the steam
heritage ships featured here. She is also
the largest, and the last remaining hand
fired coal burning twin screw steam tug
of her class still operating in commercial
survey in the world today.
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NZ WORKBOAT REVIEW 2013
O
wned and operated by The Tug William C
Daldy Preservation Society Inc who purchased her in 1978 for the princely sum
of one dollar, the Society has subsequently
raised millions of dollars and spent hundreds of thousands
of man-hours preserving, restoring, maintaining and operating the tug in as near original condition where practical,
for the benefit of the people of Auckland and visitors alike.
William C Daldy was built by Lobnitz & Co on the
Clyde, Renfrew, Scotland, for the Auckland Harbour
Board in 1935. Hull No. 987 cost £40,000, plus delivery
cost of £3167 sterling, which was a sizeable sum in the
tails of the great depression.
She is not a small vessel. Her overall length is 126 feet
(38.4 metres), a beam of 32 feet (9.75 metres) and a draft
of 15 feet (4.5 metres). She is not slow either, she did
