Pioneer (paddle-steamer)

Built in Sydney to the order of the New Zealand colonial government by the Australian Steam Navigation Company, she cost £9,500.

Launched in 1863, she was towed across the Tasman Sea by HMS Eclipse, leaving Sydney on 22 September and arriving at Onehunga on 3 October 1863.

[1] She was a flat-bottomed, stern-wheel paddle-steamer of 304 tons, made of 3⁄8 inch (9.5 mm) iron.

With twin 30 hp engines and a 3.7 m (12 foot) stern wheel she had a speed of 9 knots.

[1] There are two engravings of her in action on the Waikato River in Ross and Howard, from the Illustrated London News.