Southern Cross (ship)

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Southern Cross No. 5

The Southern Cross has been the name of a succession of ships serving the Melanesian Mission of the Anglican Church and the Church of the Province of Melanesia. It succeeded the Undine, a 21-ton schooner built at Auckland and in service from 1849 to 1857. Funds from Charlotte Mary Yonge's novel The Heir of Redclyffe (1854) were devoted to funding the construction of the Melanesian mission vessel.

Southern Cross No. 1, c. 70-ton schooner in service from 1857 to 1860. Wrecked on the coast of New Zealand.
Southern Cross No. 2, 93-ton yawl-rigged brigantine in service from 1863 to 1873. Built at Southampton.
Southern Cross No. 3, three-masted, two-topsail schooner. 180 tons with auxiliary steam power, 24 H.P., in service from 1874 to 1892. Built in Auckland. Cost about £5,000, of which £2,000 was contributed from a fund collected by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in memory of Bishop John Coleridge Patteson.
Southern Cross No. 4, three-masted Schooner. Foremast, square rigged; main and mizzen, fore-and-aft rig. 240 tons, with auxiliary steam. In service from 1892 to 1902. Built in England. Cost about £9,000; contributed by Bishop John Richardson Selwyn and others.
Southern Cross No. 5. Launched by Bishop Cecil Wilson in 1903.
Southern Cross No. 6.
Southern Cross No. 7.
Southern Cross No. 8.
Southern Cross No. 9. Built in Australia in 1962 at the request of the Bishop of Melanesia, Alfred Thomas Hill. Currently in service after refurbishing and rededication in 2005 by Archbishop Ellison Pogo.