On Tues.6.10 I visited the new Newcastle maritime centre, housed in a former cargo shed at Lee Wharf (close to the civic and theatre and restaurant zone of the city). The wharf precinct is being redeveloped as a tourist zone.
The museum wasn't open on Tuesday (only three days per week until the official opening in 2008). Because a fire-safety inspection was in progress, I was able to have a quick look.
There are two or three specifically paddlesteamer displays.
There are panels explaining the tragic sinking of PS Cawarra (built 1864, sank at the entrance to Newcastle Harbour in 1866, with only one survivor).
There are lots of web references, eg
* PS Cawarra, contemporary history
http://members.optusnet.com.au/spalding1/Cawarra%20Wreck.htm* A small summary
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_CawarraThere is a model of PS Sophia Jane:
www.ladydenman.asn.au/content/earlyencounters.html In 1831 the Sophia Jane was the first steamer to turn a paddle on Port Jackson, Sydney. For 20 years she ran a regular passenger service on Port Jackson and on coastal runs. She was also the first steamer to port at Wollongong and the first at many ports up and down the coast.
Sydney Gazette in 1831 wrote: "No expense has been spared for the comfortable accommodation of her passengers and her apartments are of the finest description. She has three separated cabins, one for gentlemen, one for ladies and another for steerage passengers. In the gentlemen's cabin 16 beds can be made, in the ladies' 11 and in teerage 20 and in cases of emergency, extra beds can be prepared, making in all 54."
After two decades of service, Sophia Jane was broken up in 1845, and her steam engines and boilers were fitted into a new Sydney-built steamer.
I can't recall much on the original or replica PS William the Fourth, however, my visit was very rushed. The museum is optimistic that the permanent mooring for the restored replica will alongside the museum: available for static display when not out cruising.
http://www.hermes.net.au/turon/quiz.htm* PS Surprise built at Millards ship yard, Neutral Bay, NSW in 1831, with a
10 hp engine and made her maiden voyage on 1 June 1831. The first steam movement in the Southern Hemisphere. Later she went to Hobart under her own power to become a ferry.
* PS Sophia Jane arrived in Sydney in May 1831. A 50 hp (37 kw) engine
drove her at 13 kph. Not the first, her paddles came out as cargo. Engines of the era were used as auxiliary engines. Sophia Jane's engines are believed to lie on the seabed off Coffs Harbour.
* PS William the Fourth, launched on the William's River (Newcastle), October 1831 and sold to China in 1850s.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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