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Unit Shipper
 Sourced from www.photoship.co.uk
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Built for the Royal Navy at Lytham St. Annes, she was initially a coal-fired tug, producing a service speed of 12 knots.
She was converted to an oil-fired tug in the 1930s, when operating for Kingcome Navigation in Vancouver, and was renamed twice more by that company during her time with them, which also included a further engine upgrade, to a 1500hp Fairbanks-Morse diesel in 1962.
 Photo supplied by Alex Lang
Vancouver Tugboat Co acquired her in 1969 and renamed her "Le Beau". Within twelve months, Vancouver Tugboat had merged with Island Tug & Barge to form Seaspan International, a subsidiary of which was the Timaru-based Unit Shipping Company.
Crewed by eleven, and equipped with a gyro compass and automatic pilot, a VHF radio, and with a towing winch carrying 2500 feet of 2.125 inch diameter wire - capable of reeling at 30 feet a minute at a line pull of 75,000 pounds, and 120 feet a minute at a line pull of 18,500 pounds, she set out on her delivery voyage in October 1970, carrying a cargo of pulp intended for Port Kembla.
Industrial activity there meant she re-routed for Onehunga, arriving in December to commence a short-lived tug-and-barge service with the fully enclosed 1964-built barge "UNZ4", which was capable of carrying 1800 tons deadweight and was loaded through doors in the side by truck or forklift.
 JT Diamond collection, Auckland Libraries, JTD-19M-04459-2
The owners had expansive plans for the venture, including the building of three more barges at Orakei, but come mid-July 1971, thanks largely to a demarcation dispute, "Unit Shipper" arrived at Onehunga for the final time, and was laid up in port for a few months.
She was eventually sold to Seaways Inc of Liberia in January 1972, with management under the hands of Liffey Marine. After drydocking in Whangarei, where she was renamed "Killarney", she made one last call at Onehunga in March 1972, before sailing with the barge "Liffey 1" in tow, carrying a pre-cut and partly prefabricated 26000 square feet school for Sabah, Malaysia.
Operating out of Singapore, She carried out ammunition shuttles under charter to a US government agency prior to the collapse of South Vietnam, and while on a towing voyage from Singapore to the Arabian Gulf in 1976, suffered machinery failure near Colombo.
It proved to be her last working voyage, for after temporary repairs she returned to Singapore, where she was laid up until the towing tug was herself told to Jurong in October 1977 to be broken up.
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Sourced from Ships of NZ Facebook page