HMAS Kuttabul (ship)

Last updated

Sydney ferry KUTTABUL as built 1922.jpg
Kuttabul as built. 1922
History
Civil Ensign of Australia.svgAustralia
NameKuttabul
NamesakeAboriginal word meaning wonderful
Owner Sydney Ferries Limited
Port of registry Sydney
Route Circular Quay-Milsons Point
Builder Walsh Island Dockyard and Engineering Works, Newcastle
Yard number54
In service1922
Out of service1940
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgAustralia
NameHMAS Kuttabul
Owner Royal Australian Navy
Acquired7 November 1940
Commissioned26 February 1941
IdentificationO/N 150185
FateSunk 1 June 1942
General characteristics
TypeHarbour ferry
Tonnage447  GRT
Length183 ft (56 m)
Beam36.9 ft (11.2 m)
Capacity2,250

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

Contents

Kuttabul and her identical sistership, Koompartoo , were the largest and last K-class ferries built. Kuttabul had the highest passenger carrying capacity of any ferry on Sydney Harbour and was ordered for the crowded Milsons Point to Circular Quay route.

During the Japanese midget submarine attack on Sydney Harbour on 31 May 1942, Kuttabul was sunk, with 21 naval personnel aboard.

Design and construction

Kuttabul being fitted out at Walsh Island Dockyard and Engineering Works, 1922 Kuttabul being fitted out 1922.jpg
Kuttabul being fitted out at Walsh Island Dockyard and Engineering Works, 1922

To service the booming population growth on the North Shore prior to the construction of a bridge connection, Sydney Ferries Limited ordered the largest, and what would be the last, "K-class" ferries. They were Kuttabul and Koompartoo , steam-powered ferries, built in 1922 by the Walsh Island Dockyard and Engineering Works in Newcastle. Similar in size to Manly ferries, they were rated at 448 gross and 201 net register tons (1269 and 569 m³), and were 183 feet (56 m) long, with a beam of 36 feet (11 m). They were the largest ferries ever operated on the inner harbour ferry routes, though Kuttabul had a larger passenger capacity (2,250) than Koompartoo (2,089). Their passenger capacity was the largest ever of any ferry on Sydney Harbour, exceeding even the largest Manly ferries by 500 passengers, a record that has not been beaten by any subsequent ferry.

Both ferries were of steel construction with a wooden superstructure. [1] Both vessels were constructed with 18 watertight compartments, regarded as being unsinkable and therefore were not required to carry life-saving equipment. [2] [3]

Sydney Ferries

Kuttabul as a Sydney Ferries Limited K-class steamer Kuttabul ferry.jpg
Kuttabul as a Sydney Ferries Limited K-class steamer

Kuttabul and Koompartoo had been ordered specifically for the short heavy lift commuter link across the harbour between Circular Quay and Milsons Point, a route that was approximately aligned with the location of the pending Sydney Harbour Bridge. Prior to the opening of the bridge, peak hour ferries were leaving either side of the harbour at the rate of one fully loaded vessel every six minutes. Supporting the large steel hulled twins, were usually the timber "K-class" Kuramia (1914), Kai Kai, and Kulgoa. [4]

With the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932, the route became redundant. Kuttabul and Koompartoo were considered too big to be used on other routes and were laid up, but were later made available for tourist cruises on the harbour. [3] [5] [6] The Milsons Point wharf used by these ferries is now part of Luna Park. [7]

Royal Australian Navy and sinking

Kuttabul after sinking Kuttabul (AWM 042975).jpg
Kuttabul after sinking

After the outbreak of World War II, Kuttabul was requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy on 7 November 1940, and moored at the Garden Island naval base to provide accommodation for Allied naval personnel while they awaited transfer to their ships. [8] [5]

On the night of 31 May/1 June 1942, three Ko-hyoteki class midget submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy entered Sydney Harbour with the intention of attacking Allied warships. According to the official account, only one of the submarines, designated M-24, was able to fire her torpedoes, but both missed their intended target: the heavy cruiser USS Chicago. [5] The torpedoes, fired around 00:30, continued on to Garden Island: one ran aground harmlessly, but the other hit the breakwater against which Kuttabul and the Dutch submarine K-IX were moored. [9] [10]

The attack killed 19 Royal Australian Navy and two Royal Navy sailors asleep aboard the ferry, and wounded another 10. [11] It took several days for the bodies of the dead sailors to be recovered, with a burial ceremony held on 3 June. [12] One of the ferry's wheelhouses was salvaged and used as a naval police guardhouse at the Garden Island naval base;[ citation needed ] the base was commissioned on 1 January 1943 as the stone frigate HMAS Kuttabul in commemoration of the ferry and the lives lost. [11] The wheelhouse later came into the possession of the Australian War Memorial, and is on display alongside a composite submarine built from the wreckage of two of the Japanese midget submarines. [13]

See also

Citations

  1. Prescott, Anthony (1984). Sydney Ferry Fleets. Ronald H Parsons. ISBN   0-909418-30-6.
  2. "The Kuttabul. New Ferry Steamer.". The Sydney Morning Herald. August 1922. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  3. 1 2 SS Kuttabul Ferries of Sydney
  4. Andrews, Graeme (1994). Ferries of Sydney (Third ed.). Sydney: Oxford University Press / Sydney University Press. pp. 87–89. ISBN   0-424-00202-7.
  5. 1 2 3 Jenkins, Battle Surface, p. 215
  6. Gregory's Street Directory of Sydney & Suburbs, p. 214
  7. Andrews, Graeme (1975). The Ferries of Sydney. A.H. & A.W. Reed. ISBN   0589071726.
  8. HMAS Kuttabul Royal Australian Navy
  9. Jenkins, Battle Surface, pp. 213–5
  10. Grose, A Very Rude Awakening, p. 139
  11. 1 2 Elbourne, Wonderful Kuttabul
  12. Carruthers, Japanese Submarine Raiders 1942, p. 151
  13. Grose, A Very Rude Awakening, pp. 253–5

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Jackson</span> Body of water in Sydney, Australia

Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea. It is the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. The location of the first European settlement and colony on the Australian mainland, Port Jackson has continued to play a key role in the history and development of Sydney.

USS <i>Chicago</i> (CA-29) Northampton-class heavy cruiser

USS Chicago (CL/CA-29) was a Northampton-class cruiser of the United States Navy that served in the Pacific Theater in the early years of World War II. She was the second US Navy ship to be named after the city of Chicago. After surviving a midget submarine attack at Sydney Harbour and serving in battle at the Coral Sea and Savo Island in 1942, she was sunk by Japanese aerial torpedoes in the Battle of Rennell Island, in the Solomon Islands, on 30 January 1943.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Type 97 torpedo</span>

The Type 97 was a 17.7 inches (45 cm) diameter torpedo used by the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Intended for use with Japan's Kō-hyōteki-class midget submarines, the torpedo was based on the 24-inch diameter Type 93 "Long Lance" used by Japanese surface vessels, but redesigned to meet the smaller 18-inch physical dimensions of the midgets' two torpedo tubes. Larger Japanese submarines were armed with the 21-inch Type 95 torpedo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garden Island (New South Wales)</span> Locality in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Garden Island is an inner-city locality of Sydney, Australia, and the location of a major Royal Australian Navy (RAN) base. It is located to the north-east of the Sydney central business district and juts out into Port Jackson, immediately to the north of the suburb of Potts Point. Used for government and naval purposes since the earliest days of the colony of Sydney, it was originally a completely-detached island but was joined to the Potts Point shoreline by major land reclamation work during World War II.

HMAS <i>Kanimbla</i> (C78)

HMAS Kanimbla was a passenger ship converted for use as an armed merchant cruiser and landing ship infantry during World War II. Built during the mid-1930s as the passenger liner MV Kanimbla for McIlwraith, McEacharn & Co, the ship operated in Australian waters until 1939, when she was requisitioned for military service, converted into an armed merchant cruiser, and commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Kanimbla.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Attack on Sydney Harbour</span> 1942 World War II attack by Japan

From 31 May to 8 June 1942, during World War II, Imperial Japanese Navy submarines made a series of attacks on the Australian cities of Sydney and Newcastle. On the night of 31 May – 1 June, three Ko-hyoteki-class midget submarines, each with a two-member crew, entered Sydney Harbour, avoided the partially constructed Sydney Harbour anti-submarine boom net, and attempted to sink Allied warships. Two of the midget submarines were detected and attacked before they could engage any Allied vessels. The crew of M-14 scuttled their submarine, whilst M-21 was successfully attacked and sunk. The crew of M-21 killed themselves. These submarines were later recovered by the Allies. The third submarine attempted to torpedo the heavy cruiser USS Chicago, but instead sank the converted ferry HMAS Kuttabul, killing 21 sailors. This midget submarine's fate was unknown until 2006, when amateur scuba divers discovered the wreck off Sydney's northern beaches.

One ship and one shore establishment of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) have been named HMAS Kuttabul.

HMAS <i>Kuttabul</i> (naval base) Royal Australian Navy base

HMAS Kuttabul is a Royal Australian Navy (RAN) base located in Potts Point in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Kuttabul provides administrative, training, logistics and accommodation support to naval personnel assigned to the various facilities that form Fleet Base East, the main operational navy base on the east coast of Australia. A part of Fleet Base East itself, Kuttabul occupies several buildings in the Sydney suburb of Potts Point and in the immediately adjacent Garden Island dockyard. It also supports navy personnel posted to other locations throughout the greater Sydney region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fleet Base East</span> Naval installation

The Fleet Base East is a Royal Australian Navy (RAN) major fleet base that comprises several naval establishments and facilities clustered around Sydney Harbour, centred on HMAS Kuttabul. The Fleet Base East extends beyond the borders of Kuttabul and includes the commercially-operated dockyard at Garden Island, and adjacent wharf facilities at nearby Woolloomooloo, east of the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. Fleet Base East is one of two major facilities of the RAN, the other facility being the Fleet Base West. The fleet operates in the Pacific Ocean.

The Shelling of Newcastle was conducted by the Japanese submarine I-21 in the early hours of 8 June 1942. The bombardment followed the attack on Sydney Harbour on 31 May, and was conducted shortly after I-24 shelled the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. During the attack I-21 fired 34 shells at Newcastle, including eight illumination rounds, but caused little damage. The Australian gunners at Fort Scratchley fired four shells at the submarine, but scored no hits.

HMIS <i>Bombay</i> (J249)

HMIS Bombay (J249), later INS Bombay, named for the city of Bombay in India, was one of 60 Bathurst class corvettes constructed during World War II and one of four operated by the Royal Indian Navy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sydney Harbour anti-submarine boom net</span> World War II naval defence net

The Sydney Harbour anti-submarine boom net was an anti-torpedo and submarine defence net that was in Sydney Harbour during World War II. It spanned the entire width of the harbour from Laing Point, Watsons Bay to Georges Head Battery, on the northern side of Sydney Harbour. The boom formed part of the Sydney Harbour defences which also included artillery batteries and patrol boats.

HMAS <i>Burra Bra</i> Many ferry requisitioned by Royal Australian Navy

Burra Bra was a Manly ferry on Sydney Harbour that operated by the Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Company from 1908 until 1940, before being requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy for use as an anti-submarine training vessel and target tow during World War II.

Koompartoo Sydney Harbour Ferry

Koompartoo was a 1922 Sydney Ferries Limited K-class ferry later converted to a 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.

<i>Kuramia</i> Passenger steam ship

Kuramia was a "K-class" ferry on Sydney Harbour. Commissioned in 1914, the timber-hulled steamer was built for Sydney Ferries Limited during the early twentieth boom in cross-harbour ferry travel. At 353 tons, she was the largest wooden ferry on Sydney Harbour.

M24 Japanese Midget Submarine wreck site is a heritage-listed former midget submarine and now archaeological site located in unincorporated waters off Sydney's Northern Beaches in New South Wales, Australia. The Ko-hyoteki-class midget submarine was designed by the Japanese Imperial Navy and built from 1941 to 1942 by Kure Naval Yard or Ourazaki Naval Yard. The site was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 7 December 2007.

<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.

HMAS Lolita (14) was formerly a luxury motor cruiser, commissioned as a channel patrol boat into and operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II. She was one of thirteen similar vessels, known to Sydney siders as the 'Hollywood Fleet'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of Sydney Harbour ferries</span> Timeline of ferry transport in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

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.

Naval Base Sydney was a United States Navy base built during World War II at Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The base was built with Australian civilian contractors. As the US Navy expanded in the Island hopping campaign, Naval Base Sydney expanded to include a Naval Base Hospital, repair base and other facilities. US Navy operations started in 1943 and ended after the war in 1945.

References