SS Kuring-gai
Kuring-gai on Sydney Harbour
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History | |
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Name | Kuring-gai |
Operator | Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Company |
Route | Manly |
Builder | Mort's Dock and Engineering |
Launched | 1901 |
Out of service | 1928 |
Fate | Hulked 1934, sunk post World War 2 |
General characteristics | |
Tonnage | 497 tons |
Length | 51.8 m (169 ft 11 in) |
Beam | 9.5 m (31 ft 2 in) |
Height | 4.5 m (14 ft 9 in) |
Installed power | 85 NHP |
Propulsion | 3 cylinder tripled expansion steam engines |
Speed | 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
Capacity | 1,228 passengers |
SS Kuring-gai was a ferry that served on the Sydney to Manly run from 1901 to 1928.
An iron framed, steel-plated double-ended screw ferry, it was the archetype of the familiar Manly ferry shape of the 20th century.
The name Kuring-gai is derived from the "
Design and construction
Kuring-gai was ordered by the Port Jackson Co-operative Steamship Co. Ltd, which became the
Her basic design was emulated on eleven ferries that formed the twentieth century fleet of Manly ferries; namely the Binngarra-type ferries, the two Dee Why-class ferries and the South Steyne. This layout is also seen in the four current Freshwater-class ferries introduced in the 1980s and still operating.
Kuring-gai was built in 1901 at
Service life
Kuring-gai ran her first revenue trip to Manly on the 11 May 1901.[4] The high standard of passenger accommodation including polished timbers, mirrors and electric lights was greatly appreciated by passengers.
In 1905, Kuring-gai overshot the wharf at Circular Quay and became stuck in a hole that the new Binngarra had created when it too crashed four days earlier. Kuring-gai was freed by the paddle steamer, Brighton.[4]
Kuring-gai was reboilered in 1922. Her capacity of 1,228 passengers became too small for the booming Manly route, particularly in comparison to the larger Binngarra class ferries that had been subsequently introduced. Following the arrival of the fast and big
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Near Bradleys Head, steaming towards Circular Quay
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on Sydney Harbour, 1920
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With ferry Kurnell at Walsh Island Dockyard (between 1928 and 1934)
Demise
She was tied up and hulked in 1934. The wooden superstructure was demolished and in World War II, US forces used her in New Guinea as a storage barge.[5] After the War, the vessel was towed back to Newcastle, moored at Hexham and at one point sank in the mud near Hexham Bridge where she is still visible.[5]
Citations
- ISBN 9781742231167.
- ^ Aboriginal Heritage Office (2015). Filling A Void: A review of the historical context for the use of the word 'Guringai'. Sydney.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ John, Morecombe (20 February 2015). "Misunderstanding: The historical fiction of the word Guringai that has filled a void in our knowledge of the original inhabitants". Manly Daily. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
- ^ a b c ferriesofsydney.com
- ^ a b Newcastle Herald
References
- Andrews, Graeme (1975). The Ferries of Sydney. A.H. & A.W. Reed Pty Ltd. ISBN 0589071726.
- Prescott, AM (1984). Sydney Ferry Fleet. Magill South Australia: Ronald H Parsons. ISBN 0909418306.
- Scanlon, Mike (8 December 2016). "What Lies Beneath". Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
External links
- Media related to Kuring-gai at Wikimedia Commons