SS Penguin
SS Penguin at Port Chalmers. Photograph by David Alexander De Maus. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| New Zealand | |
| Name | SS Penguin |
| Owner |
|
| Builder | Tod and Macgregor, Glasgow |
| Yard number | 128 |
| Launched | 21 January 1864 |
| Identification | Official number: 47849 |
| Fate | Sank on 12 February 1909 after colliding with rocks near Wellington. 75 people killed in what is classed as New Zealand's deadliest maritime disaster. |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Passenger/cargo steamship |
| Tonnage | |
| Length | 220 ft 6 in (67.21 m) |
| Beam | 28 ft 6 in (8.69 m) |
| Depth | 14 ft 4 in (4.37 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | |
SS Penguin was a New Zealand inter-island ferry steamer that sank off the southwest coast of Wellington after striking a rock near Sinclair Head in poor weather on 12 February 1909. Penguin's sinking caused the deaths of 75 people, leaving only 30 survivors. This was New Zealand's worst maritime disaster of the 20th century.