Tangaroa was launched in 1925, after having her keel laid around 1923. She is built of solid oak by Soren Larsen, Nykobing Mors, in Denmark. Just about all her hull, deck and bulwarks are original. She has an overall length of 85 feet, a beam of 16 feet and displaces 55 metric tons, with a draft of 7 feet. She carries a sail area of 2053 square feet.

She was first commissioned as a seine netting fishing boat under the name of ‘Tina’, working out of Redricks Haven, Denmark, from where she fished the Baltic, going as far afield as Greenland in search of a good catch. At some point she changed ownership and was registered under name of ‘Bikea’ up until 1989.

In 1988/1989, she was decommissioned from fishing and bought from Denmark to Southampton. She was then fitted with new interior, accommodation, and deckhouse and rigged to how she would have been. The fish hold is now the saloon and the ice hatches are now the skylights.

Lots of original features remain. The original registration was NFWO, and original safe working tonnage 10 ⁶¹₁₀₀ by volume. This registration is still visible on one of the beams in the saloon. In the former crew accommodation another registration reads "Lugal 4 Mand" meaning accommodation for 4 men.

If you look closely at the beams in the saloon you can see small nail holes. This is where the fishermen pinned up fish tails for luck!

The name AE Brown is carved into a plank on the saloon ceiling. A. E. Brown sponsored a plank to be put in the cathedral spire at Winchester on its refurbishment in the 1950's. When the spire was again refurbished in the 1980's the plank was reclaimed and now is one of the king planks around the main mast.

The original 3 cylinder B and W ‘Alpha’ diesel two stroke engine was in place up to 1979 which had a maximum rpm of 250 and would take 5 minutes from tick over to reach this speed! She now has a sporty 180 hp DAF marine engine to complement her original Hundenstine 5-foot variable pitch, ice cutting propeller.

Tangaroa is a traditional gaff ketch including jib topsail, jib, staysail, main, main topsail, mizzen. The masts are pitch pine from the forest of Dean. She is one of the smaller tall ships around, making her friendly and versatile though still a real ship. allowing her to have a friendlier and more versatile feel. Tangaroa meets all the MCA yacht charter regulations and gives anyone the opportunity to sail on a classic from a bygone era.