SS City of Adelaide (1863)
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| History | |
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 Australia
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| Name: | SS City of Adelaide |
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| Builder: | J & G Thomson, Govan |
| Yard number: | 67 |
| Launched: | 22 December 1863 |
| Completed: | 1864 |
| Out of service: | 1912 |
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| General characteristics | |
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| Beam: | 28.3 ft (8.6 m) |
| Draft: | 16.6 ft (5.1 m) |
The City of Adelaide was a passenger steam ship launched in 1863 in Glasgow, Scotland. The vessel was later converted to a Barque for use as a cargo transport. In 1912 the vessel was gutted by fire, and in 1916 the burnt hulk was run aground in Cockle Bay, Magnetic Island, Australia. During the Second World War four people were killed in a training accident when a RAAF aircraft struck the masts of the vessel.
Launched on 22 December 1863, the SS City of Adelaide was commissioned for the Australasian Steam Navigation Company and built in Govan, Glasgow by J & G Thomson. The vessel ran regular passenger services between several destinations including Melbourne, Sydney,Honolulu and San Francisco. Having undergone a refit in 1871 the vessel operated for a further 14 years before being retired from service in 1885. Following the merger of the Australasian Steam Navigation Company with the Queensland Steam Shipping Company, in 1887, City of Adelaide continued in service with the successor company Australasian United Steam Navigation Company.
She was sold in 1890 to W. A. Ritchie, of Sydney, and was converted to a four masted barque by removing her boilers and engines. In 1895 the barque was sold onto G J Robertson of Sydney. In 1902 the vessel was purchased by Howard Smith Company of Townsville and used as a hulk for the storage of coal. In 1912 the vessel caught fire and burnt for a number of days before flames could be extinguished. The burnt hulk of the vessel was then purchased in 1915, by George Butler, the son of the first European resident of Magnetic Island. Butler had the hull stripped, and an attempt was made to float the vessel to Magnetic Island′s Picnic Bay, where she would be scuttled to provide a breakwater for a jetty. However, as the vessel was being towed from Townsville to Picnic Bay she ran aground off Magnetic Island′s Cockle Bay.
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