 Lady Northcott at Circular Quay in July 2013 | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders | |
| Operators | |
| Completed | 7 |
| Active | 3 |
| Laid up | 2 |
| Scrapped | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
The Lady class is a class of ferry that were operated by Harbour City Ferries and its predecessors on Sydney Harbour. The term 'Lady class' was also used to describe four wooden-hulled double-ended ferries that were operated on Sydney Harbour, from the 1910s to the early 1970s.
In late 1967, the Sydney Harbour Transport Board placed an order for three ferries with the State Dockyard, Newcastle. Continuing the tradition of naming ferries after the wives of the Governors of New South Wales, Lady Cutler was launched on 10 August 1968 and arrived in Sydney on 19 September 1968. [1] [2] [3]
It was followed in 1970 by Lady Woodward and Lady McKell. [4] These two differed from Lady Cutler in having reverse sloped wheelhouses. [1]
In 1974/75, two enlarged versions were built by Carrington Slipways, Lady Wakehurst and Lady Northcott. These were followed in 1979 by Lady Street and Lady Herron that were built at the State Dockyard. [1] [3] [5] [6]
Following a fire that gutted the South Steyne in August 1974, the Lady Wakehurst and Lady Northcott were pressed into on the Manly service after having their bows built up to contend with the rougher conditions while crossing Sydney Heads and extra gangway openings cut into the upper deck. Following the Tasman Bridge disaster, Lady Wakehurst was sent to Hobart in January 1975 to operate services on the River Derwent, not returning until November 1977. [3] [6] [7]
In the 1990s, the first three were withdrawn and placed in store at Rozelle Bay. A deal to sell them to Hong Kong fell through. Today, Lady Cutler and Lady McKell operate as cruise vessels on Port Phillip, the latter having had one wheelhouse removed and renamed Victoria Star. [2] [8] Lady Woodward was sold to Tasmania and converted for use as a salmon farm tender vessel. In 2010, it was sold to a citizen of Tin Can Bay for use as a houseboat. [9]
Lady Wakehurst was sold to Auckland in 1997, before returning to Sydney in 2001. It briefly returned to the Manly run in 2006 when chartered by Sydney Ferries. It moved to the Solomon Islands in 2011. [7] Lady Street was withdrawn in October 2002. [10] and was sold in December 2004 to be broken up with her scrapping being completed at Goat Island in 2007
Lady Northcott and Lady Herron were removed from service in October 2017. [11] In 2020 Lady Northcott was donated to Aboriginal Cruise company Tribal Warrior and sailed from Newcastle to Sydney, on the 26th of September 2022, under her own power after works were completed to get her back into service. After returning to Sydney the Lady Northcott was painted in a full black Livery with traditional aboriginal art decorating the superstructure. Other parts of the vessel including the funnel and masts are still in the Sydney Ferries cream colour and have yet to be repainted. Since its repaint the Lady Northcott has operated harbour cruises for events such as New Year's and Vivid. On the 25th of January the Lady Northcott was given a second name that being "Wirawi" the aboriginal word for woman. The rename was accompanied by traditional aboriginal ceremonies and celebrations.
In May 2023 after being stored in Tin Can Bay for around 12 years the Lady Woodward was scrapped. The vessel was tugged from Tin Can Bay to the old slipways in Marybrough where it was swiftly scrapped. Plans from the Transport Heritage Australia group were underway to restore the vessel and return it to Sydney however after an engine room flood damaged the vessel it was deemed uneconomical to repair and the project was cancelled. With the vessel in a state of disrepair it was decided that the only option was to scrap it.
| Name | Image | MMSI | Date launched | Namesake | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lady Cutler |  | 503334800 | 10 August 1968 | Helen Cutler | Active, Port Phillip [12] |
| Lady Woodward |  | 7027813 | 19 October 1970 | Eric Woodward | Scrapped in May 2023 |
| Lady McKell |  | 7029122 | 19 October 1970 | William McKell | Renamed Victoria Star, active Port Phillip [13] |
| Lady Wakehurst |  | 7343449 | 6 July 1974 | John Wakehurst | Laid up in Avi Avi Marina Solomon Islands. Future unknown. |
| Lady Northcott |  | 503602000 | 26 September 1974 | John Northcott | Withdrawn from Sydney ferries fleet in October 2017. Donated to the Aboriginal cruise company Tribal Warrior and was converted to a cruise vessel. The vessel was given a second name "Wirawi". [14] |
| Lady Street |  | 7810806 | 8 May 1979 | Laurence Street | Withdrawn October 2002. [10] [15] Scrapped at Goat Island, Sydney in 2007. |
| Lady Herron |  | 503601000 | 23 August 1979 | Leslie Herron | Withdrawn October 2017, Harbour City Ferries [16] Currently stored in Carrington, Newcastle. |
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The Urban Transit Authority, a former statutory authority of the Government of New South Wales, was responsible for the operation and maintenance of buses and ferries in Sydney and Newcastle from July 1980 until January 1989.
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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.
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Media related to Lady ferry class at Wikimedia Commons