MV Ongarue
Name Meaning: Tributary River at Taumarunui
Type: Motor Vessel
Propulsion: 1 Screw in Tunnel
Year Built: 1903
Builder: Yarrow & Co. Poplar London
Dimensions: Length 60ft 1in, Beam 8ft 4in, Depth 3ft 5in (As built)
Gross Tons:  13.37 (As built)
Registered Tons: 9.09 (As built)
Machinery: 1 White Union Oil 40 BHP (As built, various engines since)
Section Of River: Houseboat to Taumarunui
Fate: The Ongarue was the last riverboat in service for the company and was drawn up on Hatrick's slipway on 31st October 1958. In 1963 the MV Ongarue Riverboat Club was formed and the Ongarue was back on the river. In 1968 following its involvement in drownings the Ongarue was again laid up, this time on the Putiki slipway. In 1983 after rotting for 15 years, the Ongarue was donated to the Department of lands and survey for restoration as a public display on land in Pipiriki. Ongarue became the property of the Department of Conservation and was looked after until it became un-economic, being left in a poor state and closed to the public from 1997. After deteriorating further, DoC finally gifted the 102 year old vessel to the Whanganui Riverboat Restoration & Navigation Trust on the 4th May 2005. She was loaded onto a truck the next day and arrived in Wanganui that afternoon. The Ongarue is now housed in the Whanganui Riverboat Centre Museum, being preserved for restoration in the future.
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MV Ongarue at Pipiriki, 1953.
MV Ongarue at Pipiriki 1990s.
MV Ongarue sunk, later refloated.
MV Ongarue with a load of passengers.
MV Ongarue on the river, 1940s.
MV Ongarue on the slipway, 1958.
MV Ongarue laid up at Putiki, 1980s.
MV Ongarue early on in its career.
MV Ongarue going up a rapid 1910s.
MV Ongarue at a stop off, 1920s.
MV Ongarue going up a rapid, 1930s.
MV Ongarue still at Pipiriki, 2004.
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MV Ongarue in Taumarunui, 1909.
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MV Ongarue taken to Wanganui, 2005.
MV Ongarue in the  Riverboat Centre.
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MV Ongarue at Pipiriki, 2000.