''SS Kuring-gai'' was a ferry that served on the Sydney to Manly run from 1901 to 1928. An iron framed, steel-plated double-ended screw ferry, it was the archetype of the familiar Manly ferry shape of the 20th century. The name ''Kuring-gai'' is derived from the "

Guringai Kuringgai (also spelled Ku-ring-gai, Kuring-gai, Guringai, Kuriggai) (,) is an ethnonym referring to (a) an hypothesis regarding an aggregation of Indigenous Australian peoples occupying the territory between the southern borders of the Gamila ...

Aboriginal people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

who were thought to be the

traditional owners Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...

of the area immediately north of Sydney. More contemporary research suggests that this was not the case.

Design and construction

''Kuring-gai'' was ordered by the Port Jackson Co-operative Steamship Co. Ltd, which became the

Port Jackson and Manly Steamship Company The Port Jackson and Manly Steamship Company (PJ&MSC) was a publicly listed company that operated the Manly ferries in Sydney, Australia. After being taken over by Brambles Industries, the ferry service was eventually taken over by the Sta ...

. The vessel was designed by renowned

naval architect This is the top category for all articles related to architecture and its practitioners. {{Commons category, Architecture occupations Design occupations Occupations ...

, Walter Reeks and was a development of Reeks' previous Manly ferry, the wooden '' Manly''. ''Kuring-gai's'' wheelhouses were located immediately adjacent either side of her single funnel. She was the first Manly ferry to have gangway exits on both upper and lower decks. The subsequent '' Binngarra''-type of vessels were larger versions of ''Kuring-gai'' but with wheel houses at the far ends of the upper deck. Her basic design was emulated on eleven ferries that formed the twentieth century fleet of Manly ferries; namely the ''Binngarra''-type ferries, the two Dee Why-class ferries and the South Steyne. This layout is also seen in the four current Freshwater-class ferries introduced in the 1980s and still operating. ''Kuring-gai'' was built in 1901 at Mort's Dock and Engineering in Balmain. Her triple expansion steam engines, also supplied by Mort's Dock, generated 85 hp. She reached 15.66 knots on her trials on 28 April 1901.

Service life

''Kuring-gai'' ran her first revenue trip to Manly on the 11 May 1901.ferriesofsydney.com
/ref> The high standard of passenger accommodation including polished timbers, mirrors and electric lights was greatly appreciated by passengers. In 1905, ''Kuring-gai'' overshot the wharf at Circular Quay and became stuck in a hole that the new ''Binngarra'' had created when it too crashed four days earlier. ''Kuring-gai'' was freed by the paddle steamer, '' Brighton''. ''Kuring-gai'' was reboilered in 1922. Her capacity of 1,228 passengers became too small for the booming Manly route, particularly in comparison to the larger ''Binngarra'' class ferries that had been subsequently introduced. Following the arrival of the fast and big ''Dee Why'' and ''Curl Curl'' from Scotland, she was sold to Newcastle Ferries Ltd in 1928 and used as a ferry at Walsh Island, now known as

Kooragang Kooragang () is the northernmost and largest suburb of the city of Newcastle, in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. Dominated by Kooragang Island, the eastern part of the suburb is primarily industrial, while the western part of t ...

. She was also used to run excursions to

Raymond Terrace Raymond Terrace is a town in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, about by road north of Newcastle on the Pacific Highway. Established in 1837 it is situated at the confluence of the Hunter and Williams rivers. The town was named ...

Nelson Bay Nelson Bay may refer to: *Nelson Bay, New South Wales Nelson Bay is a significant township of the Port Stephens local government area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on a bay of the same name on the southern ...

and Broughton Island. File:Ferry Kuringai.jpg, Near Bradleys Head, steaming towards

Circular Quay Circular Quay is a harbour, former working port and now international passenger shipping port, public piazza and tourism precinct, heritage area, and transport node located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the northern edge of the ...

File:Kuringai 2 from NLA.jpg, on Sydney Harbour, 1920 File:Ferries KURING-GAI and KURNELL at Walsh Island Dockyard.jpg, With ferry ''Kurnell'' at Walsh Island Dockyard (between 1928 and 1934)

Demise

She was tied up and hulked in 1934. The wooden superstructure was demolished and in World War II, US forces used her in New Guinea as a storage barge.Newcastle Herald
/ref> After the War, the vessel was towed back to Newcastle, moored at

Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden nearby, and close to Hadrian's Wall. Hexham was the administ ...

and at one point sank in the mud near

Hexham Bridge Hexham Bridge is a road bridge in Northumberland, England linking Hexham with the North Tyne valley. It lies north of the town of Hexham and is the main access to the A69 road, A69 Bypass (road), bypass. History The Tyne was crossed by two fe ...

where she is still visible.

References

* * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuring-gai Ferry transport in Sydney History of Sydney Ships built in New South Wales 1901 ships Ferries of New South Wales