Mosquito Fleet

The term Mosquito Fleet has had a variety of uses around the world.

In U.S. naval and maritime history, the term has had nine main meanings:

The term "Mosquito Fleet" also refers to the fleet of small ketches and schooners operating in the shallow coastal and gulf waters of South Australia, from 1836 to 1982.

In the early days of settlement at Geraldton (now Innisfail), the Johnstone River had a sand bar at the mouth and several shallow stretches in the river. The problem of large ships being unable to enter the river made it difficult for bags of sugar from the district sugar mills to be transported to southern refineries. To overcome this problem, shallow draft steam ships and lighters were used to carry the bags of sugar out to meet larger ships. The small ships became known as "The Mosquito Fleet".

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