HMAS Koompartoo

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Koompartoo sea trials 1.jpg
Koompartoo undergoing her sea trials, 1922
History
Civil Ensign of Australia.svg  Australia
NameKoompartoo
NamesakeAboriginal word meaning new beginnings
Owner Sydney Ferries Limited
Route Circular Quay-Milsons Point
Builder Walsh Island Dockyard and Engineering Works, Newcastle
Yard number53
In service1922 - 1941
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg
NameHMAS Koompartoo
Owner Royal Australian Navy
Acquired18 June 1942
Commissioned23 December 1942
Decommissioned8 June 1962
IdentificationZ256
General characteristics
Tonnage448  GRT, 201  NRT
Length191 ft (58 m)
Beam38.3 ft (11.7 m)
Speed12 knots
Capacity2,089
Armament

Koompartoo was a 1922 Sydney Ferries Limited K-class ferry later converted to an Royal Australian Navy boom defence vessel. Koompartoo, described in the press as a "Dreadnought for the Milsons Point run" and "a titan amongst ferries", was along with her sister ferry, Kuttabul , the highest capacity ferries ever on Sydney Harbour.

Contents

Commencing ferry service in 1922, they were designed and built for the short heavy-lift run on the Circular Quay to Milsons Point across to Sydney's North Shore prior to the 1932 opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Following the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, both ferries were redundant. During World War II, they were requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy. Kuttabul was sunk during the 1942 Japanese Attack on Sydney Harbour with the loss of 19 lives. Koompartoo was converted to a boom defence vessel and taken to Darwin. Following the War, she was laid up in Sydney until 1962 when she was taken to Launceston, Tasmania where her hull was used as bauxite barge. Her final fate is unclear.

The name, "Koompartoo", is thought to be an Australian Aboriginal word meaning "fresh start", and the boat followed about twenty previous Sydney Ferries K-class vessels named with Aboriginal words starting with "K".

Background

In the early twentieth century, prior to the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932, Sydney Ferries Limited was running one of the largest ferry fleets in the world to cater for booming demand for ferry services across Sydney Harbour to Sydney's North Shore. In particular, more and bigger ferries were needed to service the crowded Milsons Point to Circular Quay route (in the approximate location and route of the current Sydney Harbour Bridge). The Milson's Point wharf was an interchange with the North Shore rail terminus and is now the location of Luna Park. Peak hour ferries were leaving either side of the harbour at the rate of one fully loaded vessel every six minutes. An order was placed for two similar and very large steel-hulled high capacity ferries - Koompartoo and Kuttabul - to service the short heavy-lift route.

Design and construction

The two ferries were built in 1922 by the Walsh Island Dockyard and Engineering Works in Newcastle. [1] [2] At 58 m (190 ft) in length, and with very large beams of 11.7 m (38 ft), the two vessels were the largest ferries owned by Sydney Ferries and the last of the company's K-class. The two boats represented the peak of the K-class design of double-ended ferries. The Department of Navigation granted Koompartoo a passenger certificate for 2,089 people, which was the highest passenger capacity of any ferries ever on Sydney Harbour. This was 730 more than Sydney Ferries Limited's previous largest ferry, Kuramia (1914), [2] and almost 500 people more than the Port Jackson and Manly Steamship Company's Manly ferries.

Koompartoo's 113 hp triple-expansion steam engine, built by the builder, pushed her to 12 knots. The two sister ferries were built with steel hulls and wooden superstructures unlike most other K-class ferries, which were built with timber hulls (sisters Kanangra and Kirawa , both 1912, also had steel hulls).

Koompartoo was constructed with 18 watertight compartments, regarded as being unsinkable and therefore was not required to carry life saving equipment. [3] [4] The ferry's designers and builders that the ferry was thus to stable that "nothing short of an unheard of catastrophe could make her turn over", in which case, passengers would not have time to make use of the lifejackets and other apparatus usually provided. As such, the Superintendent of Navigation used his discretion provided for under the Navigation Act to dispense with lifejackets and lower the required buoyant apparatus from 40% of the total number of passengers, to 10%. [5]

Koompartoo was launched on 15 December 1921, and christened by Miss Wise, daughter of a Sydney Ferries Limited director. [6]

Koompartoo's livery generally followed the Sydney Ferries Limited tradition of varnished superstructures with white edging around the promenade deck. The steel hull and main deck bulwarks were painted a light grey. Her strikingly tall single funnel was painted black.

Ferry service

We may regard this splendid ship as a tribute paid by shareholders to the residents of North Sydney, and as an earnest effort on the part of the company to cater for the demands of the traffic. It is a fitting answer to our critics. We cannot go without expressing keen appreciation of the splendid skill and patience displayed by Mr. Cutler and the builders and designers of the vessel. It is evidence of what can be done in our own yards by our own citizens."

 —B.T. Parker, Chairman of Directors, Sydney Ferries Limited, at commemorative speech made on boa on the day of Koompartoo's arrival in Sydney, 12 April 1922 [7]

The new Koompartoo arrived in Sydney Harbour on the morning of 12 April 1922 with ferries and other craft blowing whistles and sirens in welcome. She had left Newcastle six hours before at midnight under the charge of AE Cutler, general manager of the Walsh Island dockyard, and for insurance purposes, she was accompanied for insurance purposes by the tug Heroine. [7] [8] For most of the trip, she travelled at half speed, however, from Barrenjoey, she travelled at full speed of 13 knots for the last hour of the journey.

She entered the Sydney Heads at 6am and was moored at Clifton Gardens alongside the smaller ferry, Karaga, where breakfast was provided for the crew and dignitaries. [7] [9] Following the commemorative proceedings, Koompartoo was put through her speed trials that afternoon maintaining 13½ knots. [7]

Koompartoo began service on the short heavy lift trip between Milson's Point and Circular Quay in early May 1922. [2] Supporting the large steel hulled twins, were usually the timber "K-class" Kuramia (1914), Kaikai , and Kulgoa . [10]

With the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932, the once crowded route was effectively redundant. Koompartoo and Kuttabul were too big to be useful on the other cross harbour routes which also saw significant and sudden drops in trade, and the two ferries were laid up. Almost twenty Sydney Ferries were decommissioned in the two years following the bridge's opening. The two were both of relatively young age and were considered for conversion to run the Manly route. [11] Koompartoo was later made available for tourist, spectator and concert cruises on the harbour. [12] Her wheel houses were raised (flying bridges) in the 1930s to allow her master to see over spectators on the decks. Her roles included service carrying crowds of passengers to the regular Head of the River rowing carnivals and following the sailing boat races that were growing in popularity at the time. This was also the period of the Great Depression and Koompartoo found a new career as a concert boat, a role she filled between 1935 and 1941.

Incidents

World War II

HMAS Koompartoo at HMAS Waterhen HMAS Koompartoo at HMAS Waterhen.jpg
HMAS Koompartoo at HMAS Waterhen

In 1941, Koompartoo was purchased by the British Ministry of War Transport for service in the Middle East and taken to Mort's Dock for conversion. However with the outbreak of the Pacific War she was never deployed, instead being taken over by the Royal Australian Navy on 18 June 1942 and converted to a boom defence vessel. Armed with two 20mm Oerlikons and four Vickers .303 MGs, she was commissioned on 23 December 1942 under the command of Lieutenant GG Moss, RANR (S) and taken to Darwin in January 1943 where she served until the end of the war.. Held in reserve in Darwin from 1945 until 1950, she returned to Sydney and was laid up at Athol Bight. [16]

In April 1962, she was declared for disposal and sold out of the Service on 8 June 1962, stripped of her superstructure and towed to Launceston in 1966 for use as a bauxite barge. [17] [18] Her final fate is unclear, however, it is thought she may have sunk in Port Latta and then removed. [19] [20]

See also

Related Research Articles

HMAS <i>Kuttabul</i> (ship)

HMAS Kuttabul, formerly SS Kuttabul, was a Royal Australian Navy depot ship, converted from a Sydney Ferries Limited ferry.

HMAS <i>Kuramia</i>

HMAS Kuramia was a Royal Australian Navy boom defence vessel, converted from a Sydney Ferries Limited K-class ferry.

Sydney Ferries Limited operated ferry services on Sydney Harbour from 1900 until June 1951.

Bellubera Ferry operated by the Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Company

Bellubera was a ferry operated by the Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Company on the Manly service. Launched in 1910, she was the third of six "Binngarra-type" vessels. Upon her 1936 conversion from steam power, she became the first diesel-electric vessel in Australia. She was decommissioned in 1973, and scuttled at sea in 1980.

<i>Karrabee</i> (ferry)

Karrabee was ferry operated by Sydney Ferries Limited and its NSW State Government operated successors on Sydney Harbour from 1913 until 1984. A wooden ferry built at the time of Sydney Ferries' rapid early twentieth century, she and near "sister", Karingal, were the smallest of the fleet of round-end "K-class ferries".

Sydney K-class ferry

The K-class ferries were a group of double-ended screw steam ferries run by Sydney Ferries Limited and its government successors on Sydney Harbour. The company introduced more than two dozen of the vessels from the 1890s through to the early twentieth century to meet the booming demand for ferry services across Sydney Harbour prior to the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932.

<i>Kirawa</i>

Kirawa was a ferry on Sydney Harbour. She was a near identical sister vessel with Kanangra both of which were launched in 1912 during the early-twentieth pre-Sydney Harbour Bridge boom years of Sydney Ferries Limited.

<i>Koree</i>

Koree was a "K-class" ferry on Sydney Harbour. Launched in 1902, the timber-hulled steamer was built for Sydney Ferries Limited during the boom in cross-harbour ferry travel prior to the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

<i>Kulgoa</i> Ferry on Sydney Harbour

Kulgoa was a "K-class" ferry on Sydney Harbour. Launched in 1905, the timber-hulled steamer was built for Sydney Ferries Limited during the boom in cross-harbour ferry travel prior to the 1932 opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Kulgoa was Sydney's largest ever wooden ferry. She was a typical early example of the "K-class"; a group of double-deck, double-ended, steam-powered screw ferries. Kulgoa was one of the first Sydney ferries built with the sides of her promenade (upper) deck enclosed, although the ends near the wheelhouses remained open.

<i>Binngarra</i>

Binngarra was a ferry operated by the Port Jackson Co-operative Steamship Company, which became the Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Company, on the Manly service. Launched in 1905, she was the first of six similar vessels built for the company–the Binngarra class—the success of which saw three of her sister vessels serving through to the 1970s and 1980s.

<i>Kirrule</i>-type ferry

The Kirrule-type ferries - Kiandra, Kirrule and Kubu - were three identical K-class ferries that operated on Sydney Harbour by Sydney Ferries Limited.

<i>Kanimbla</i> (ferry)

Kanimbla was a "K-class" ferry on Sydney Harbour. Launched in 1910, the timber-hulled steamer was built for Sydney Ferries Limited during the boom in cross-harbour ferry travel prior to the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Kanimbla was renamed "Kurra-Ba" in 1935. She was laid up in the 1940s and broken up in the 1950s.

<i>Kareela</i> (ferry)

Kareela was a "K-class" ferry on Sydney Harbour. Launched in 1905, the double-ended timber-hulled steamer was built for Sydney Ferries Limited in response to the early twentieth century boom in cross-harbour ferry travel prior to the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. She was the first of Sydney Ferries Limited's boats to have a fully enclosed upper deck.

<i>Kosciusko</i> (ferry)

Kosciusko was a "K-class" ferry on Sydney Harbour. Launched in 1911, the timber-hulled steamer was built for Sydney Ferries Limited during the boom in cross-harbour ferry travel prior to the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Timeline of Sydney Harbour ferries

Sydney Harbour ferry services date back to the first years of Sydney's European settlement. Slow and sporadic boats ran along the Parramatta River from Sydney to Parramatta and served the agricultural settlements in between. By the mid-1830s, speculative ventures established regular services. From the late-nineteenth century the North Shore developed rapidly. A rail connection to Milsons Point took alighting ferry passengers up the North Shore line to Hornsby, New South Wales via North Sydney. Without a bridge connection, increasingly large fleets of steamers serviced the cross harbour routes and in the early twentieth century, Sydney Ferries Limited was the largest ferry operator in the world.

<i>Kookooburra</i>

Kookooburra was a "K-class" ferry on Sydney Harbour. Commissioned in 1907, the timber-hulled steamer was built for Sydney Ferries Limited during the boom in cross-harbour ferry travel prior to the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. She was retired from Sydney Harbour service in 1947 after which she was sent to Newcastle. She is thought to have been broken up in 1959.

<i>Kurraba</i> and <i>Kirribilli</i>

Kurraba and Kirribilli were two similar "K-class" ferries on Sydney Harbour. Launched in 1899 and 1900 respectively, the two timber-hulled steamers were built for Sydney Ferries Limited during the boom in cross-harbour ferry travel prior to the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

<i>Karingal</i> (ferry)

Karingal was a ferry operated by Sydney Ferries Limited and its NSW State Government operated successors on Sydney Harbour from 1913 until 1984. A wooden ferry built at the time of Sydney Ferries' rapid early twentieth century, she was the smallest of the round-end "K-class ferries".

<i>Kaikai</i> (ferry) Ferry on Sydney Harbour

Kaikai was a "K-class" ferry on Sydney Harbour. Commissioned in 1907, the timber-hulled steamer was built for Sydney Ferries Limited during the boom in cross-harbour ferry travel prior to the 1932 opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. At the time of launch, Kaikai was one of Sydney's largest wooden ferries, being the longest and second largest by tonnage. She was a typical example of the "K-class"; a group of double-deck, double-ended, steam-powered screw ferries.

Kanangra (ferry)

Kanangra is a retired ferry on Sydney Harbour. She was launched in 1912 during the early-twentieth century pre-Sydney Harbour Bridge boom years of Sydney Ferries Limited.

References

  1. ↑ Prescott, Anthony (1984). Sydney Ferry Fleets. Ronald H Parsons. ISBN   0909418306.
  2. 1 2 3 "NEW SYDNEY FERRY". Daily Commercial News And Shipping List . No. 10, 566. New South Wales, Australia. 2 May 1922. p. 4. Retrieved 26 March 2022– via National Library of Australia.
  3. ↑ The Koompartoo Sydney Morning Herald 13 April 1922
  4. ↑ "The Kuttabul. New Ferry Steamer.". Sydney Morning Herald. August 1922. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  5. ↑ "NEW SYDNEY FERRY". Daily Commercial News And Shipping List . No. 10, 566. New South Wales, Australia. 2 May 1922. p. 4. Retrieved 26 March 2022– via National Library of Australia.
  6. 1 2 "Koompartoo Launched". The Evening News . No. 17, 004. New South Wales, Australia. 15 December 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 27 March 2022– via National Library of Australia.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "THE KOOMPARTOO". The Sydney Morning Herald . No. 26, 293. New South Wales, Australia. 13 April 1922. p. 11. Retrieved 26 March 2022– via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ "AT SEA IN A FERRY". The Evening News . No. 17104. New South Wales, Australia. 12 April 1922. p. 1. Retrieved 27 March 2022– via National Library of Australia.
  9. ↑ "A "DREADNOUGHT" FOR THE MILSON'S POINT RUN". The Daily Telegraph . No. 13, 393. New South Wales, Australia. 14 April 1922. p. 7. Retrieved 27 March 2022– via National Library of Australia.
  10. ↑ Andrews, Graeme (1994). Ferries of Sydney (Third ed.). Sydney: Oxford University Press / Sydney University Press. pp. 87–89. ISBN   0-424-00202-7.
  11. ↑ Andrews (1975), p. 103
  12. ↑ SS Koompartoo Ferries of Sydney
  13. ↑ "Ferry Steamers Collide". Gippsland Times . No. 7449. Victoria, Australia. 24 June 1926. p. 3. Retrieved 27 March 2022– via National Library of Australia.
  14. ↑ "Ferry Bump". The Evening New . No. 19059. New South Wales, Australia. 25 July 1928. p. 9. Retrieved 26 March 2022– via National Library of Australia.
  15. ↑ "THRILL FOR FERRY PASSENGERS". The Daily Telegraph . No. 15, 507. New South Wales, Australia. 22 August 1929. p. 4. Retrieved 27 March 2022– via National Library of Australia.
  16. ↑ Gillett, Ross (February–April 1977). "Sydney's Fighting Ferries". The Navy, the Magazine of the Navy League of Australia. 39: 29–32. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  17. ↑ navy.gov.au
  18. ↑ Andrews (1975), p. 89
  19. ↑ facebook.com
  20. ↑ flickr.com


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