Coastal general cargo ship “Dido” at Auckland, New Zealand, April 1974
Owner: Northern Steamship Co., Auckland
Flag: New Zealand
Builder: Charles Hill & Sons Ltd., Bristol
Gross tons: 1,589
Deadweight: 1,991
Engine: 9-cylinder type MN19S diesel, 2,175 b.h.p., by British Polar Engines Ltd., Glasgow
Service speed: 11 knots
Completed August 1963 as “Dido” for Bristol Steam Navigation Co., UK
1970: bought by Northern S.S. Co., retaining name
1974 December: laid up after owner went into liquidation
1975 May: sold to Metcalfe Motor Coasters Ltd., UK (managers: S. William Coe & Co.) retaining name.
1978: owner & manager amalgamated, forming Coe Metcalf Shipping Ltd.; “Dido” renamed “Gorsethorn”
1990: sold to Marine Services Convoyages, France, renamed “Deesse de la Democratie” & converted for use as a floating radio station. Arrived in Keelung, Taiwan, May 1990 but the project eventually fell through..
1991: sold to Taiwanese businessman whose idea was to convert her to a Tiananmen Square massacre memorial museum but nothing came of this also; laid up & eventually abandoned in Anping, southern Taiwan.
Scrapped in Taiwan 2003