The Dunedin listen (help·info) (1876–82) was the first ship to complete a truly successful transport of refrigerated meat. In its capacity, it helped set the stage for New Zealand's success as a major provider of agricultural exports, notwithstanding its extreme remoteness from most markets.

Ship origins

The 1,320-ton^[vague], 73-metre (240 ft) Dunedin was built by Robert Duncan and Co at Port Glasgow, Scotland, in 1874 at a cost of ₤23,750 (£1.6 million, in 2010 inflation-adjusted British pounds). She was one of six 'Auckland' class emigrant vessels, designed to hold 400 passengers. In 1881, still painted in the original Albion Line colours of a black hull with a gold band and pink boot topping as shown, she was refitted with a Bell Coleman refrigeration machine with which she took the first load of frozen meat from New Zealand to the United Kingdom.

Meat industry

New Zealand in the 1870s produced a vast amount of wool, but the wool market was low. In the United Kingdom, the rapidly expanding population had outrun the supply of local meat, leading to rapid increases in price. Live shipment was prohibitively expensive. New Zealand did export some canned meat, but this industry was in its infancy, and the product was popular in the Pacific islands, but less so in the mother country.

The first attempt to ship refrigerated meat was made when the Northam sailed from Australia to the UK in 1876, however the refrigeration machinery broke down en route and so the cargo was lost. Later that year chilled beef was sent from the United States to Britain (a shorter journey, at cooler, higher latitude), and although spoilage was high, this voyage provided some encouragement to the antipodean promoters of refrigeration. In 1877 the Steamers Le Frigorifique and Paraguay carried frozen mutton from Argentina to France, proving the concept, if not the economics. In 1879 the Strathleven, equipped with compression refrigeration, sailed from Sydney with 40 long tons (41 t) of frozen beef and mutton as a small part of her cargo, and this meat was found to be in good condition.

Director of the New Zealand and Australian Land Company, William Soltau Davidson, sent an employee, Thomas Brydone, from New Zealand to investigate compression refrigeration units. In 1880 Davidson convinced the company to invest in refrigeration. Teaming up with James Galbraith of the Albion shipping company, they approached John Bell and Sons and J.J. Coleman, who had been behind the American chilled beef shipments.

As a result of negotiations, Albion agreed to refit the Dunedin with a Bell-Coleman compression refrigeration machine—this worked by removing air, compressing it, then releasing it to a lower pressure refrigeration chamber—in this case the hold — where the air cooled as it expanded. Using 3 tons of coal a day, this steam powered machine could chill the hold to 40 degrees Fahrenheit (22 °C) below surrounding air temperature, freezing the cargo in the temperate climate of southern New Zealand, and then maintaining it beneath zero through the tropics. The Dunedin was refitted in May 1881, the most visible sign being a funnel for the refrigeration plant between her fore and main masts, (sometimes leading her to be mistaken for a steamship). The refitted Dunedin arrived in Dunedin's Port Chalmers at the end of November 1881.

1882 voyage



The NZALC was carrying 10,000 Merino/Lincoln and Leicester crossbreed sheep on the Totara Estate near Oamaru. A slaughter works was built close to the rail head there. From 6 December 1881 this herd was slaughtered at Totara Estate and sent overnight by goods trains with a central block of ice to be loaded on the Dunedin, where they were sewn into calico bags and frozen. To prove the process, the first frozen carcases were taken off the ship, thawed and cut.

After 6 days of loading, the crankshaft of the compressor broke, damaging the machine's casing and causing the loss of the 640 sheep stowed. It took a month for a local machinist to rebuild the crankshaft and associated machinery, during which time all but 2 of the 60 booked passengers found alternative travel. The frozen carcasses were resold locally during this time, and encouragingly they were considered indistinguishable from fresh meat.

Model of the Dunedin in the Otago museum.

 

 

In February 1882, the Dunedin sailed with 4331 mutton, 598 lamb and 22 pig carcasses, 246 kegs of butter, as well as hare, pheasant, turkey, chicken and 2226 sheep tongues. Some problems came from sparks from the compressor's boiler which provided a fire hazard on a sailing ship, and air flow in the refrigerated hold; Captain Whitson at one point developed hypothermia while working alone in the air duct.



  

 

The Dunedin loading at Port Chalmers in 1882.

The Dunedin arrived in London 98 days after setting sail. Carcasses were sold at the Smithfield market over two weeks by John Swan and Sons, who noted butchers concerns about the quality of meat from the experimental transport; "Directly the meat was placed on the market, its superiority over the Australian [frozen] meat struck us, and in fact the entire trade". Although crossed with the primarily wool bearing Merino, the well fed New Zealand sheep weighed an average of over 40 kilograms (88 lb), and some exceeded 90 kilograms (200 lb). Just a token single carcass was condemned. ^[1]



Establishing an industry

The shipment caused The Times to comment "Today we have to record such a triumph over physical difficulties, as would have been incredible, even unimaginable, a very few days ago...". After meeting all costs, The NZALC made a £4700 profit from the voyage. The first commercially successful shipment of frozen meat, it effectively launched the industry and assured New Zealand's early dominance in it. The Marlborough—sister ship to the Dunedin — was immediately converted and joined in the trade, the following year, with rival New Zealand Shipping Company vessel the Mataurua, while the German Steamer Marsala began carry frozen New Zealand lamb in December 1882. Within 5 years, 172 shipments of frozen meat were sent from New Zealand to the United Kingdom, (of which only 9 had significant amounts of meat condemned). Refrigerated shipping also led to a broader meat and dairy boom in Australasia and South America. Frozen meat and Dairy exports continued to form the backbone of New Zealand's economy until the UK's entry into the European Economic Community in 1974 led to New Zealand produce being excluded by the EEC's trade bans.



The Dunedin's sister ship, Marlborough was converted to refrigeration as soon as the success of the venture was proven, and carried her first shipment in 1882. The Dunedin and Marlborough continued in the frozen meat trade until both were lost in 1890. The Dunedin and the Marlborough disappeared, having set sail from New Zealand simultaneously with two other refrigerated ships bound for the UK. A boat, camp, and skeletons of some of Marlborough's crew were supposedly found on Tierra Del Fuego, although this story has been debunked. No trace was ever found of the Dunedin. It is thought a wager on the first arrival may have led to risks being taken; at the time it was presumed the Dunedin hit an iceberg off Cape Horn.