| Type : |
Wooden screw steamer |
| Launched : |
1881 |
| Builder : |
Rock Davis Blackwall, NSW |
| Gross weight : |
79 tons/120 tons after 1892 |
| Dimensions : |
109.30 x 18.30 x 7.60 (feet) |
| Passenger capacity : |
500 |
| Speed : |
6.5 knots prior to 1892 |
Aleathea was originally built as a double ended ferry for Charles Jeannerett's Parramatta River service by Rock Davis of Blackwall (Woy Woy) in 1881.
Dimensions were 109.6 feet by 18.3 feet by 7.6 feet and driven by a 50hp compound steam engine . She had a capacity of some five hundred passengers and had a gross weight of 120 tons.
She holds the title of being the very first ferry in Sydney to have had electric lighting fitted.
In 1892 she suffered the misfortune of dropping a propellor which had the effect of making her faster. As a result she was modified to be a single ended ferry and at the same time was re-engined.
In 1894, with two hundred people aboard, she suffered a serious accident when she collided with the government steamer Sol. No lives were lost however Alathea suffered considerable damage to her bows requiring her to be beached at Blues Point. In the subsequent Court of Marine Inquiry, the master of the Sol was found to be at fault.
Along with the big river steamer Bronzewing and the smaller Osprey, she ran regular excursions to the Fern Bay Picnic Grounds in the late 1800's under the ownership of P. Walker (Parramatta River Steamers and Tramway Company).
She figured in a rather mysterious incident on the 1st of July 1912 when the master of the ferry reported that a sick paseenger had disappeared while the vessel was crossing the harbour. Although a body was found in the harbour later on, the description did not match that of the missing passenger whose hat and neatly folded overcoat were located on the ferry. Apparently the missing passenger was never found.
Like the remaining boats of the Parrramatta River service she was ultimately sold to Sydney Ferries Limited who operated her until she was replaced by the Karingal in 1913. Karingal received her engines and boilers. After being withdrawn from service and stripped, she was converted for use as a lighter for the Parramatta cargo service.
The ultimate fate of this pioneering vessel is unknown.