MV ''Lady Cutler'' was a

Lady-class ferry 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, f ...

on Sydney Harbour services for 22 years. Retired from Sydney ferry service in 1991, she has since been refurbished and now operates tours on

Port Phillip Port Phillip (Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, narrow channel known as The Rip, and is completel ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

Design and construction

MV ''Lady Cutler'' was the first of the

Lady Class ferries 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, ...

built between 1968 and 1969 for 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 bec ...

to operate in Sydney Harbour.Fifty Years of Sydney's Public Ferries
''Afloat Magazine'' May 2009 She was of double-ended design with a capacity for 590 passengers. With a length of and beam of , her tonnage is . ''Lady Cutler'' is powered by an 8-cylinder MWM turbo diesel producing 510bhp and driving a single propeller at each end. The ferry was launched on 10 August 1968 at the

State Dockyard The State Dockyard was a ship building and maintenance facility operated by the Government of New South Wales in Carrington, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia between 1942 and 1987. History In 1942, the State Dockyard opened on the site of t ...

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

and named after Lady Helen Cutler, wife of the 32nd

Governor 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 ...

Roden Cutler Sir Arthur Roden Cutler, (24 May 1916 – 21 February 2002) was an Australian diplomat, the longest serving Governor of New South Wales and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that ca ...

History

''Lady Cutler'' entered service on 8 October 1968 and was soon followed by sister ships, ''Lady Woodward'' and ''Lady McKell''. For over twenty years she served the various routes within Sydney Harbour, but in 1991 she suffered engine and hull problems and was laid up in

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 th ...

until offered for sale the following year. She was sold 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 Delta i ...

interests in 1996, along with her sister ships, but the deal fell through. In 1998 she was sold to Ron Morrison and then to Shannon Harper, leaving Port Jackson for

. In Melbourne, much of the steelwork on her hull and superstructure was replaced. Work was sporadic and stopped in 2004, awaiting more venture capital to bring her back into survey as a cruise ship operating in

and the

Port of Melbourne The Port of Melbourne is the largest port for containerised and general cargo in Australia. It is located in Melbourne, Victoria, and covers an area at the mouth of the Yarra River, downstream of Bolte Bridge, which is at the head of Port Phil ...

. Jeff Gordon bought the vessel in 2007, providing the funds to complete the project. The deck steelwork was replaced and her steering and engine controls were reinstated. In June 2007 ''Lady Cutler'' sailed to

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, where she was slipped and her hull surveyed. On the return voyage she encountered gale-force winds and large seas in the

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct wat ...

. Her engine broke down and she was towed to her berth. She completed her refurbishment in Melbourne in December 2007 and the following month was recommissioned by Lady Joan Cutler, Sir Roden Cutler's 2nd wife. ''Lady Cutler'' entered service as a tourist and party boat, branded as ''Melbourne Showboat''.

References

External links

*
''Lady Cutler'' official home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lady Cutler Ferries of New South Wales Ferries of Victoria (Australia) Ferry transport in Sydney Ships built in New South Wales 1968 ships

Design and construction

History

See also

References

External links