| The Scow Echo (1959) Around the coast of New Zealand work a few old and honourable ships, the last of a dying class of scows. These flat-bottomed craft were the 'Mac Trucks' of their day - transporting all manner of cargo round New Zealand and up the rivers to the towns and villages. This story features the two-masted scow Echo, built in 1905 and now on the hard at Picton as a tourist attraction. Echo is seen crossing Cook St and slowly going up the Wairau River to Blenheim. Echo ended her working life in 1965 and, by then, had crossed Cook Strait approximately 15,000 times.
During World War II, Echo was requisitioned by the US Army for service in the Pacific, where she rescued many downed American aircraft crews and carried Allied troops. She is thought to have helped track down two Japanese submarines, and her story was told in the 1961 movie The Wackiest Ship in the Army, starring Jack Lemmon and Ricky Nelson. Duration: 03.20. This film was originally in Pictorial Parade No 91.
NB: There is some wonderful colour film of Echo going up the Wairau River to Blenheim in the 1964 film North-East Corner, also available on this channel.
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