The four-masted steel barque Hinemoa was reputed to be the only sailing ship built with freezing-machinery for the transport of up to 20,000 carcases of mutton from New Zealand, but she carried general cargo as well. This machinery was later removed and she then carried many thousands of immigrants to that remote colony. She was reported as being a handy, well-behaved ship with a good turn of speed.
According to Basil Lubbock in his book The Last of The Wind Jammers, one of her captains went mad, another was dismissed for criminal offenses, while still another became such a hopeless drunkard that at one stage the crew took over the running of the ship. A later captain was found shot with a revolver by his side, while his successor also died a violent death, though not aboard the Hinemoa; he shot himself while on a minesweeper off Lowestoft.
