Lady Hampden






 Lady Hampden
Type :
 Wooden screw steamer
Launched  :
1896
Builder :
 J Scott
Balmain, NSW
Gross weight :
 135 tons
Dimensions :
 115.60 x 26.00 x 9.70 (feet)
Passenger capacity :
 631
Speed :
 12 knots

Lady Hampden was the second largest (in carrying capacity) of the early Lady class vessels (Lady Rawson being the largest).

She was the most distinctive Lady vessel  for a number of reasons - her funnel was placed well forward, she had only one propellor, an open top deck and finally, her horn was described as 'a long drawn out shriek'.

By the mid 1920's she was tiring and fairly unreliable. This coupled with her age ensured that she was on borrowed time after the bridge opened in 1932. Between then and 1943 she remained largely tied up, in use sporadically as a spare boat.

She was requistioned by the government in 1942 for the Navy and one year later was sunk as target practice.
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