This volume investigates the development and operational history of passenger shipping services connecting Australia and New Zealand between 1876 and 1912. Peter Plowman, a noted maritime historian, utilizes extensive archival records and shipping registers to document the evolution of the vessels that facilitated trade, migration, and travel across the Tasman Sea. The work provides a chronological framework for understanding the transition from sail to steam and the rise of major shipping lines during this formative era of colonial and post-colonial maritime infrastructure.

The text serves as a dense, specialized reference work intended for maritime historians and enthusiasts of regional transport history. Its systematic cataloging approach provides a reliable resource for those researching the specific technical and operational details of late 19th and early 20th-century passenger fleets.