Kuramia






Kuramia
Type :
 Wooden screw steamer
Launched  :
1914
Builder :
 David Drake Ltd
Balmain, NSW
Gross weight :
 335 tons
Dimensions :
 156.50 x 33.20 x 12.30 (feet)
Passenger capacity :
 1357
Speed :
 12 knots

The first five years of the second decade of the twentieth century saw a huge increase in the number of passengers wishing to cross the harbour. This period saw Sydney Ferries Ltd grow into the largest ferry operator anywhere in the world. To cope with the large number of passengers the company commissioned the building of a large number of very similar ships - the so-called K class. Kuramia was one of the later ferries of this class and one of the biggest.

Kuramia was withdrawn from service shortly after the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932 (a particularly bad year for the ferries of Sydney). Her engines were sold in 1940 and the ferry herself was requisitioned for naval use in 1942. A year later the government bought her off Sydney Ferries. For a few months after the end of World War II she remained in use as a dormitory and amenities ship finally being paid off in December of 1945.

She remained laid up in the Navy's mothball fleet until 1953 when aircraft from the carrier HMAS Sydney sank her for target practice.
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