The Lady class is a class of ferry that were operated by Harbour City Ferries and its predecessors on

Sydney Harbour 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 (p ...

. 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.

History

In late 1967, the

Sydney Harbour Transport Board The Sydney Harbour Transport Board was a statutory of the Government of New South Wales responsible for the provision of ferry services on Sydney Harbour from July 1951 until November 1974. History With its Sydney Harbour services having become ...

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 The governor of New South Wales is the viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governors of the ...

, was launched on 10 August 1968 and arrived in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

on 19 September 1968.Fifty Years of Sydney's Public Ferries
''Afloat Magazine'' May 2009History
Lady Cutler It was followed in 1970 by ''Lady Woodward'' and ''Lady McKell''.History ''Victoria Star''
/ref> These two differed from ''Lady Cutler'' in having reverse sloped wheelhouses. In 1974/75, two enlarged versions were built by

Carrington Slipways Forgacs Shipyard is a shipbuilding company located at Tomago, New South Wales on the Hunter River Hunter River may refer to: *Hunter River (New South Wales), Australia *Hunter River (Western Australia) *Hunter River, New Zealand *Hunter Rive ...

, ''Lady Wakehurst'' and ''Lady Northcott''. These were followed in 1979 by ''Lady Street'' and ''Lady Herron'' that were built at the State Dockyard. Following a fire that gutted the ''

South Steyne The SS ''South Steyne'' is a former Manly ferry on Sydney Harbour. She was the world's largest steam-powered passenger ferry and operated on the service from 1938 to 1974. Restored in the 1980s, she served as a restaurant ship in Newcastle i ...

'' 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 Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountains ...

and extra gangway openings cut into the upper deck. Following the Tasman Bridge disaster, ''Lady Wakehurst'' was sent to

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

in January 1975 to operate services on the River Derwent, not returning until November 1977.Squat new ferry Lady Wakehurst kept the Manly service afloat
''

Manly Daily The ''Manly Daily'' is an Australian community newspaper, covering the Northern Beaches region of Sydney. The paper is one of News Corp Australia's community newspapers in New South Wales. It was delivered free to homes and businesses on Wednesd ...

'' 31 October 2014 In the 1990s, the first three were withdrawn and placed in store at

Rozelle Bay Rozelle Bay is a bay located to the south of Glebe Island and the west of Blackwattle Bay, on Sydney Harbour. The naming of the bay is derived from either the Rosella bird or the Rosella plant, with the latter being more likely, due to the o ...

. A deal to sell them to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

fell through. Today, ''Lady Cutler'' and ''Lady McKell'' operate as cruise vessels on

Port Phillip Port Phillip (Kulin languages, Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped bay#Types, enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, ...

, the latter having had one wheelhouse removed and renamed ''Victoria Star''. ''Lady Woodward'' was sold to

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and converted for use as a salmon farm tender vessel. In 2010, it was sold to a citizen of

Tin Can Bay Tin Can Bay is a coastal town and locality in the Wide Bay–Burnett region in Queensland, Australia. The locality is split between the Fraser Coast Region (the northern part of the locality) and the Gympie Region (southern part of the locality) ...

for use as a houseboat. ''Lady Wakehurst'' was sold to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

in 1997, before returning to Sydney in 2001. It briefly returned to the Manly run in 2006 when chartered by

Sydney Ferries Sydney Ferries is the public transport ferry network serving the city of Sydney, New South Wales. Services operate on Sydney Harbour and the connecting Parramatta River. The network is controlled by the New South Wales Government's transport a ...

. It moved to the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

in 2011. ''Lady Street'' was withdrawn in October 2002.Lady's not for returning: budget worries cuts ferry fleet
''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

'' 17 September 2003 and was sold in December 2004 to be broken up ''Lady Northcott'' and ''Lady Herron'' were removed from service in October 2017. In 2020 Lady Northcott was donated to Aboriginal Cruise company

Tribal Warrior A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have be ...

and sailed from Newcastle to

, on the 26th of September 2022, under her own power after works were completed to get her back into service.

Vessels

References

External links

{{Sydneyferries, state=collapsed Ferry transport in Sydney Ships built in New South Wales Ferry classes

History

Vessels

See also

References

External links