plans and order a motor ship. was launched in 1924 in Scotland and reached Sydney on 3 March 1925. At she supplanted Niagara as the largest ship in the Union Company fleet. Between them Niagara and Aorangi were scheduled to provide a regular service with timetabled departures from Sydney and Vancouver every four weeks. Incidents and rescues in February 1923 a cyclone struck Niagara in passage from Suva to Auckland. An Australian able seaman who had been working on her boat deck, William Kew, was swept overboard, and at least one passenger was injured. Niagara turned back and searched two hours for A/b Kew, but did not find him. The cyclone forced Niagara to heave to for a few hours, and she made only very slow progress for another 24. Doris Crane On the morning of 19 December 1927 the three-masted schooner Doris Crane was sailing from Fanning Island to San Francisco with a cargo of copra when fuel for her auxiliary diesel engine caught fire. Her crew fought the fire, but it spread and her engineer died of burns. At 1530 hrs on 20 December the crew abandoned ship in two lifeboats about north of Hawaii. Doris Crane had no wireless, but at 0400 hrs on 20 December Niagaras lookouts saw the glare of the fire from away and she changed course to assist. By the time Niagara arrived, the lifeboats had drifted away from the burning schooner. After three hours' search Niagara found the two boats. She landed five of the survivors at Honolulu on 22 December and the remaining nine at Suva. Ika On 26 February 1928 the fishing launch Ika suffered engine failure between Tiri Tiri Island and The Noises in the Hauraki Gulf. Her crew tried to reach Kawau Island by sail power, but her sail was blown away. A heavy sea strained her hull and her crew were bailing constantly. She drifted for two days and nights, by which time she was half-full of water. At about 1955 hrs on 28 February the crew sighted Niagara, which had just left Auckland for Sydney. The fishermen lit benzene flares, which were seen by Niagaras Second Officer. Niagara changed course and rescued the three fishermen with one of her lifeboats about off Hen and Chicken Islands. Ika had drifted about , and a southwesterly wind was driving her farther off-shore when Niagara reached her. Vancouver wharf