History | |
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Name: | Balgowlah |
Namesake: | Balgowlah |
Owner: | Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Company |
Operator: | Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Company |
Port of registry: | Sydney |
Route: | Manly |
Builder: | Mort's Dock, Balmain |
Cost: | £26,000 |
Yard number: | 38 |
Laid down: | 1911 |
Launched: | 18 June 1912 |
In service: | 28 November 1912 |
Out of service: | 27 February 1951 |
Identification: | O/N 131538 |
Fate: | Scuttled |
General characteristics | |
Class and type: | Binngarra class ferry |
Tonnage: | 499 GT |
Length: | 64.00 m (210 ft 0 in) |
Beam: | 10.00 m (33 ft) |
Draught: | 3.75 m (12 ft 4 in) |
Decks: | 2 |
Speed: | 15 kn (27.78 km/h) maximum speed |
Capacity: | 1,517 |
SS Balgowlah was a ferry operated by the Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Company on the Manly service from 1912 until 1951.
Balgowlah was built by Mort's Dock, Woolwich for the Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Company. Launched in 1912, it was the fourth of six Binngarra type vessels, the others being Binngarra, Burra Bra, Bellubera, Barrenjoey and Baragoola.
It was nearly identical to the Bellubera and Barrenjoey and ultimately was the last coal burner in the fleet. It was capable of carrying 1,517 passengers in the summer and 982 in the winter (highest capacity of this class) and made over 110,000 return trips to Manly.
It was the fastest of this class of vessel, making the normally 30 minute run in just 25 minutes
Unlike some of its sister ships, it had a relatively uneventful life - shortly after going into service in 1912, it tangled with the collier Five Islands and caught itself in that ship's anchor chain. Fortunately, no damage was done. In 1927, it collided with Sydney Ferries Limited's Kanimbla at Bennelong Point. Balgowlah came off with very minor damage, while Kanimbla had a huge gash torn in one side and came close to sinking. In 1929, it collided with the collier Birchrove Park, only minimal damage was done to both ships.
It scraped into the Sydney Ferries Limited's Kangaroo in 1913. Also in 1927, it collided with the Union Steamship Company's Manuka, losing around 10 feet (3.0 m) of its sponson. The only other noteworthy event was in 1939 when it overshot the wharf at Circular Quay and went aground in soft mud. Although it ripped through the buffer stop, no damage was done. It took two tugs to pull it free.