HMAS ''Kuttabul'', formerly ''SS Kuttabul'', was a
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...
depot ship
A depot ship is an auxiliary ship used as a mobile or fixed base for submarines, destroyers, minesweepers, fast attack craft, landing craft, or other small ships with similarly limited space for maintenance equipment and crew dining, berthing an ...
, converted from a
Sydney Ferries Limited
Sydney Ferries Limited operated ferry services on Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from 1900 until June 1951.
The company grew out of the North Shore Steam Ferry Company and took over smaller ferry operators to become the largest ferry operator i ...
ferry.
''Kuttabul'' and her identical sistership, ''
Koompartoo
''Koompartoo'' was a 1922 Sydney Ferries Limited Sydney K-class ferry, K-class ferry later converted to a Royal Australian Navy Net laying ship, boom defence vessel. ''Koompartoo'', described in the press as a "Dreadnought for the Milsons Point ...
'', were the largest and last
K-class ferries K class or Class K may refer to:
Railways
* LB&SCR K class (1913), England
* SECR K and SR K1 classes (1914), England
* NZR K class (1877), New Zealand
* NZR K class (1932), New Zealand
* Tasmanian Government Railways K class, Tasmania
* Victori ...
built. ''Kuttabul'' had the highest passenger carrying capacity of any ferry on Sydney Harbour and was ordered for the crowded
Milsons Point
Milsons Point is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located three kilometres north of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of North Sydney.
Milsons Point is also the geo ...
to
Circular Quay
Circular Quay is a harbour, former working port and now international passenger shipping terminal, public piazza and tourism precinct, heritage area, and transport node located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on the northern edge of the ...
route.
During the Japanese midget submarine
attack on Sydney Harbour
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, New South Wales, Newcastle. On the night of 31 May – 1 June, three Ko-hyoteki class ...
on 31 May 1942, ''Kuttabul'' was sunk, with 21 naval personnel aboard.
Design and construction

To service the booming population growth on the North Shore prior to the construction of a bridge connection,
Sydney Ferries Limited
Sydney Ferries Limited operated ferry services on Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from 1900 until June 1951.
The company grew out of the North Shore Steam Ferry Company and took over smaller ferry operators to become the largest ferry operator i ...
ordered the largest, and what would be the last, "
K-class" ferries. They were ''Kuttabul'' and ''
Koompartoo
''Koompartoo'' was a 1922 Sydney Ferries Limited Sydney K-class ferry, K-class ferry later converted to a Royal Australian Navy Net laying ship, boom defence vessel. ''Koompartoo'', described in the press as a "Dreadnought for the Milsons Point ...
'', steam-powered ferries, built in 1922 by the
Walsh Island Dockyard and Engineering Works in
Newcastle
Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...
. Similar in size to Manly ferries, they were rated at 448 gross and 201 net register tons (1269 and 569 m³), and were long, with a beam of . 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. Both vessels were constructed with 18 watertight compartments, regarded as being unsinkable and therefore were not required to carry life-saving equipment.
[SS Kuttabul]
Ferries of Sydney
Sydney Ferries

''Kuttabul'' and ''Koompartoo'' had been ordered specifically for the short heavy lift commuter link across the harbour between
Circular Quay
Circular Quay is a harbour, former working port and now international passenger shipping terminal, public piazza and tourism precinct, heritage area, and transport node located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on the northern edge of the ...
and
Milsons Point
Milsons Point is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located three kilometres north of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of North Sydney.
Milsons Point is also the geo ...
, a route that was approximately aligned with the location of the pending
Sydney Harbour Bridge
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North ...
. 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''.
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.
[Jenkins, ''Battle Surface'', p. 215] The Milsons Point wharf used by these ferries is now part of Luna Park
Luna Park is a name shared by dozens of currently operating and defunct amusement parks. They are named after, and partly based on, the first Luna Park (Coney Island, 1903), Luna Park, which opened in 1903 during the heyday of large Coney Islan ...
.
Royal Australian Navy and sinking
After the outbreak of World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, ''Kuttabul'' was requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...
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.[HMAS Kuttabul]
Royal Australian Navy
On the night of 31 May/1 June 1942, three ''Ko-hyoteki'' class midget submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...
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 .[ 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.][Jenkins, ''Battle Surface'', pp. 213–5][Grose, ''A Very Rude Awakening'', p. 139]
The attack killed 19 Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...
and two Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
sailors asleep aboard the ferry, and wounded another 10.[Elbourne, ''Wonderful Kuttabul''] It took several days for the bodies of the dead sailors to be recovered, with a burial ceremony held on 3 June.[Carruthers, ''Japanese Submarine Raiders 1942'', p. 151] One of the ferry's wheelhouses was salvaged and used as a naval police guardhouse at the Garden Island naval base; the base was commissioned on 1 January 1943 as the stone frigate
A stone frigate is a naval establishment on land.
'Stone frigate' is an informal term which has its origin in Britain's Royal Navy (RN), after its use of Diamond Rock, an island off Martinique, as a 'sloop of war' to harass the First French ...
in commemoration of the ferry and the lives lost.[ The wheelhouse later came into the possession of the ]Australian War Memorial
The Australian War Memorial (AWM) is a national war memorial, war museum, museum and archive dedicated to all Australians who died as a result of war, including peacekeeping duties. The AWM is located in Campbell, Australian Capital Territory, C ...
, and is on display alongside a composite submarine built from the wreckage of two of the Japanese midget submarines.[Grose, ''A Very Rude Awakening'', pp. 253–5]
Chronological gallery
File:Sydney ferry KUTTABUL.jpg, In her original as-built livery of varnished timber, grey hull, black funnel, and white trim
File:SLNSW 20822 2UW harbour cruise on Kuttabul.jpg, As an excursion boat in 1937 following her 1932 removal from regular ferry service
File:Sydney Ferry KUTTABUL built 1922.jpg, In her new post-Sydney Harbour Bridge colours, 1930s
See also
* List of Sydney Harbour ferries
Sydney Harbour's first ferry, ferries were sail and/or oar powered, but by the mid-19th century, paddle steamers were well established. Double-ended ferries became common as they did not require turning at terminating wharves in Sydney's busy bu ...
* 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, s ...
Citations
References
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuttabul
Auxiliary ships of the Royal Australian Navy
Ferries of New South Wales
Kuttabul
Iron and steel steamships of Australia
Maritime incidents in June 1942
Ships built in New South Wales
Ships sunk by Japanese submarines
Shipwrecks of the Sydney Eastern Suburbs Region
1922 ships
1942 in Australia
Sydney K-class ferries