History | |
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Australia | |
Name: | SS Bee |
Owner: |
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Completed: | 1884 |
Out of service: | 1901 |
Fate: | Wrecked 17 March 1901 |
General characteristics | |
Type: | Wooden passenger/cargo steamship |
Tonnage: | 100 NRT |
SS Bee was an Australian wooden steamship built in 1884 and wrecked in 1901. She earned historical notability as the first of Robert Hayles' ferry fleet. Hayles' Magnetic Island ferry service, eventually operated under the business name Hayles Magnetic Island Pty. Ltd., served Magnetic Island for over 80 years and eventually came to operate a number of passenger and cargo services through ports around northern Australia.
Bee was built in 1884 in Newcastle, New South Wales, by Scott Bros, for the Watson Ferry Service, who operated her on their Manly-to-Sydney ferry service from 1884.
Robert Hayles Snr., the owner of a resort on Picnic Bay, Magnetic Island, purchased Bee in 1899 to transport holiday makers between Townsville and Picnic Bay. [1] The vessel sank in October 1900 but was refloated and continued service for Hayles. [2]
On 17 March 1901, Bee cast off from Picnic Bay Jetty in heavy seas. As she attempted to depart, her chain steerage gear became jammed. Unable to maneuver properly, she was taken broadside by the waves and washed up on the nearby beach at Picnic Bay. Efforts to save her failed, and within two days she was deemed unsalvageable. [2]
Bee′s wreck lies on the beach at the mouth of the unnamed creek at the western end of Picnic Bay. It generally is not visible, but sometimes can be seen following extreme weather events, which erode sand from the beach and reveal it. [1]
Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta Pintingga, is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, 112 km (70 mi) southwest of Adelaide. Its closest point to the mainland is Snapper Point in Backstairs Passage, which is 13.5 km (8.4 mi) from the Fleurieu Peninsula.
Magnetic Island, known to its Indigenous inhabitants as Yunbenun, is an island 8 kilometres (5 mi) offshore from the city of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. This 52 km2 (20.1 sq mi) mountainous island in Cleveland Bay has effectively become a suburb of Townsville, with 2,335 permanent residents. The island is accessible from Townsville Breakwater to Nelly Bay Harbour by ferry. There is a large 39.5 km2 (15.3 sq mi) National Park and bird sanctuary and walking tracks can be taken between the populated bays and to a number of tourist destinations such as the World War II forts.
Picnic Bay is a town and suburb of Magnetic Island in the City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Picnic Bay had a population of 291 people.
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PS George Rennie was a steel-hulled ship scuttled in the lee of Hawking Point, Magnetic Island, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1885 in Middlesex as a 151-gross-ton paddle steamer. In 1896 the vessel was purchased by Howard Smith and Company who converted it into a lighter. Howard Smith and Company used the vessel to transport coal from the anchorage at West Point to Townsville harbour. It was scuttled in 1902 to serve as a breakwater for a small jetty in the bay. The remains of the ship can still be seen at low tide from Picnic Bay beach.
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Robert Hayles was an Australian entrepreneur who formed a series of passenger and cargo ferry services in the north of Australia after 1889.
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The Magnetic Battery, Fort War or The Forts, as it is commonly referred, is a former Royal Australian Navy artillery battery in the hinterland of Horseshoe. Florence and Arthur Bays on Magnetic Island. Built in 1942/1943, the battery operated from July 1943 until the end of World War II. The remains of the facility are now maintained by Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service as part of the Magnetic Island National Park and are open to visitors year round.
HMAS Koolonga was a 4,260 gross tons cargo ship built by Sunderland Shipbuilding Company, South Dock Sunderland, England, in 1914 and bought by McIlwraith, McEacharn Line Pty Ltd, Melbourne and named SS Koolonga. She was requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy on 6 August 1914, as a collier and supply ship. She was returned to her owners in late 1915. She was sold in 1937 to Madrigal & Company, Philippines and renamed Paz. She was scuttled during the Second World War at Sourabaya Harbour in 1942 and was later salvaged by the Imperial Japanese and renamed Hatsu Maru. While at anchor in Manila Bay, Philippines on 13 November 1944, she was attacked by United States Navy carrier aircraft and was sunk.
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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.
Picnic Bay Jetty is a heritage-listed jetty at Esplanade, Picnic Bay, Magnetic Island, City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1959 to 1977. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 5 April 2004.
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Manly (II) was a ferry that served on the Sydney to Manly run from 1896 to 1924.
Vaucluse was a ferry on Sydney Harbour that served on the Circular Quay to Watsons Bay run. She was launched in 1905, and was one of the fastest ferries in Sydney. She was sent to Newcastle after which her fate is unknown.
Fairlight was a paddle steamer ferry that operated on the Circular Quay to Manly run from 1878 to 1914. She was the third double-ended steamer on the Manly run and first to be specifically designed for the route.
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