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Story: Charting the sea floor

‘HMS the Acheron

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‘HMS the Acheron’

The Acheron was a 655-tonne wooden paddle steamer which also had sails. Between 1848 and 1851 it surveyed much of the New Zealand coast. Many of the charts created by its crew were used for the next century. By the time the New Zealand navy obtained its first survey vessel, the Lachlan, in 1949, the majority of available charts were nearly 100 years old.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: C-059-006

by unidentified artist

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Lionel Carter, Charting the sea floor – First charts of New Zealand, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/5956/hms-the-acheron (accessed 5 June 2026).

Story by Lionel Carter, published 2 March 2009.