Rosman Ferries operates ferry services on

Sydney Harbour Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a ria, natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove River, Lane ...

History

Rosman Ferries was founded by Charles Rosman in 1916, when he launched a ferry service between Balmain,

North Sydney North Sydney is a suburb and commercial district on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. And is the administrative centre for the local government area of North Sydney Council. History The Indigenous people on the s ...

and Garden Island carrying dockyard workers to 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 ...

base. This service ran until 1981. Rosman Ferries also provided transportation for workers from Balmain to the Harbour Bridge during its construction in the late 1920s and early 1930s as well as spectator ferries for the Sydney Flying Squadron 18-foot skiff races. The spectator ferries were periodically raided by the Gaming Squad on suspicion of harbouring illegal gambling activities.Rosman Ferries
''Club Marine'' volume 25 issue 1 In February 1938, the Rosman ferry ''Rodney'' capsized and sank with the loss of 19 lives whilst on a charter to farewell the '' USS Louisville'' from Sydney Harbour. An inquest found that there had been over 100 passengers on the top deck and Charles Rosman, owner and skipper on the day, was found to be negligent. ''Rodney'' was refloated, repaired, renamed, and relaunched as ''Regalia'' and she remained running routes on the harbour right into the 1980s. Following

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 ...

withdrawing from the run in 1950, Rosman Ferries commenced operating a peak-hour service on the

Lane Cove River The Lane Cove River, a northern tributary of the Parramatta River, is a tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary west of Sydney Harbour, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The river winds through a bushland valley and joins Parramatt ...

in November 1950. In 1987, Rosman retired and sold the business to Steve and Frank Matthews and Ross and Neva Williams. In 1997, the Matthews' bought out the Williams' shareholding and in 2008 sold the business to Sean Langman’s Noakes Group in 2008 who relocated it after 70 years from

Mosman Bay Mosman Bay is a bay of Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour adjacent to the suburb of Mosman, New South Wales, Mosman, 4 km north-east of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD in New South Wales, Australia. Three ferry wharves are withi ...

to Berrys Bay. Today the fleet comprises four ferries: *''MV Proclaim'' (1939) *''MV Radar'' (1947) *''MV Royale'' (1974) *''MV Regal II'' (1981)Regal II
Rosman Ferries

References

{{Sydneyferries Ferry companies of New South Wales Ferry transport in Sydney Australian companies established in 1916

History

See also

References