Tapuhi was built in 1945 for the Royal Navy as the Empire Shirley , and was purchased by the Union Steamship Company for use in Wellington along with Empire Jane (Taioma) in 1947
Tapuhi was the first ship to tend to Wahine, who originally tried towing her into port, but this ultimately proved futile,
she later helped save passengers from liferafts, and those who were unlucky enough to have been swept into the ocean
Afterwards, in 1973, she was sold to Narain Shipping Ltd, a Suvan company and was renamed to Tui Tawate, by about mid 1980, she was abandoned in a backwater at Santo, and later scuttled as an artifical reef in 1990
Sorry for the lack of interior, this is meant to be used as a prop for a bigger project in the works, so stay tuned!
telegraph credit: Runar_MountainView
