| Type : |
Iron paddlewheel steamer |
| Launched : |
1858 |
| Builder : |
J Dow and Co (assembled) Williamstown, VIC |
| Gross : |
64 tons |
| Dimensions : |
36.39 x 3.99 |
| Passenger capacity : |
166 |
| Speed : |
12 knots |
The very earliest Manly steamers often operated on an ad-hoc basis, running as excursion vessels as and when needed rather than to any particular schedule. By the late 1850’s Manly was growing and such a state of affairs wasn’t suitable for the residents of the area who required a service that could be relied upon; Henry Gilbert Smith was to change this with the introduction of a new paddle wheeler to the service – Phantom.
Phantom was a small vessel of some 64 tons and 119 feet in length; at only 13 feet in width and with a draught of 7 feet, she wasn’t going to be the most suitable boat for the open seas trip to and from Manly but she was the first to be solely dedicated to the service.
She was relatively speedy for the day as well, capable of running at 12 knots fully laden.
She had been built in 1858 on the River Clyde in Scotland by Langlands, Brothers & Co. and like many other earlier steam vessels had arrived as cargo in sections prior to being reassembled. This was done by a J.F. Dow and Company in Melbourne, Victoria and she was to first enter service in that state.
Launched on the 27th of August 1858 from the south bank of the Yarra and named by a Miss Hillyard, she was the largest steamer that had been constructed in Victoria to that time. The vessel design was executed by a Victorian marine architect (one Douglas Elder) and the fit out of engines was completed by Dow & Co. Two 35 hp engines were built for her by the P.P. Foundry of Melbourne.
Her first owners, Skinner and Smith intended to operate her between Williamstown and Melbourne and by early October of 1858 she was advertised to start running from Queens Wharf at 11:30am each day for a fare of 1s 6d (or 2s 6d for the return).
Her sea trials were conducted on the 20th of October amidst a gale on Port Philip Bay and a heavy swell – apparently she handled well – no doubt an event that would later mark her as a potential Manly boat.
By early December she had added a daily service to Geelong, this appears not to have been successful as within a few weeks the owners advertised that she would only operate to Geelong on Sundays for excursions only. This she did at 8am, making the return trip at 3pm from Geelong. The fare was high at 12s 6d for the return and likely contributed to the failure of this venture barely a month or so later.
She seems to have continued on her Williamstown run for a short while afterwards, finally succumbing to opposition from the railways and the decision was made to send her to Sydney for use on the Manly service. In fact, an advertisement in the Sydney Morning Herald in February 1859 offering her for sale seemed to be targeted at that service, stating that she was a double ended vessel that would be well suited for Sydney Harbour and in particular Manly and Watsons Bay. The advert obviously hit the right target and she left Melbourne on the 16th of May 1859 under command of Captain C W Molland and arrived in her new home port thirteen days later on the 29th ready for her new role; indeed one that was to be far more successful than her first.
Within a few days of her arrival advertisements noting that she had been purchased expressly for the Manly Beach trade began appearing in the Sydney papers and took pains to point out that she was “entirely under new management”.
Sydney’s first full time Manly ferry had arrived.
Phantom was the first of the Manly boats to carry what would eventually become the standard livery of the fleet – a newspaper report describing her arrival noted her "dark green hull, white funnel with black topping".
In the early 1860’s Phantom was running thrice daily to and from Manly with two trips stopping at Woolloomooloo on the outbound trip, the fare was one shilling each way. She was assisted in the task by the Brothers as a running mate.
The trip could be slow – anywhere up to two hours was not unusual; on more than one occasion during heavy weather she would ship enough water to put her fires out and as a result the crew would need to jury rig a sail to help her get to her destination. As well, because of her extremely narrow beam, weights would be strung on outriggers to help her maintain her balance in the rolling swells.
By September 1859 the vessel was well established and was operating the trip in thirty minutes, comparable to the current modern (and faster) Manly ferries. Business was sufficient that the owners sought extra crew for the boat – a man (we can assume this would be a general hand), a steward and oddly enough, a cook. It wasn’t specified if the cook was required for the crew or the passengers unfortunately. In 1862 a “lad” was hired to sell fruit on board and otherwise “make himself useful”.
Like most of the early harbour steamers, Phantom ran excursions to various locations on the harbour when she was not busy on her timetabled service. The first of these was merely a deviation on her normal route when, on Tuesdays and Saturdays from October 1859, she went via Middle Harbour adding an extra 30 minutes to the trip. The trip was advertised with the caveat that there would be no extra charge for the excursion. Mondays and Thursdays she went via Rose Bay and on Wednesdays via Spring Cove and North Harbour. She was joined by another vessel, Victoria, in these forays. Certainly, by the end of that year, these two steamers were advertised together as the only vessels running on the Manly route.
By March of 1860, Phantom added two trips per day, return, to Watsons Bay in addition to her Manly route; this proved popular and she would travel to that destination right to the end of her life. 1860 also saw the addition of a third vessel, Washington, to the growing fleet operated by the company; this vessel operated ultimately for only a month or two before the service returned to two steamers only. A more permanent running mate was to arrive when Black Swan was added in May; Manly now had a permanent two boat service every day of the week (plus side trips to Watsons Bay). Washington was to appear sporadically on the service over the next few years, usually running in tandem with Phantom when another of the boats was unavailable.
1860 also saw the introduction of monthly tickets – the first periodical ticket to be issued on a Sydney ferry and the newspapers of the day noted that it was a very good deal to be had – only 30 shillings. This probably was a good price, as at that time the one way fare was 1 shilling and return was 1s 6d – schools, it was stated, received a “liberal discount”.
Beginning in 1861, her passenger capacity was increased from 48 to 100, not, as may be assumed by lengthening the vessel, but rather by the simple expedience of applying for a variation in her ticket – this was granted, but she was still the smallest of the regulars on the service.
Even in 1861 Circular Quay was a crowded place and Phantom figures in at least one accident that year when she ran down a small boat carrying two men. The boat was dragged for nearly 100 yards and eyewitnesses expressed amazement that the men were not killed or swept up by the paddle boxes. She developed somewhat of a reputation for running down small boats; over the next few years there were several reports of such incidents.
In another incident in September of that year, a young man fell overboard whilst crossing the Heads. The story goes that he was sitting on the railing and lost his hat over the side, reaching for it the railing gave way and he fell. The young chap couldn’t swim and many people rushed to the side to see what was going on – nearly causing the boat to roll over. Much screaming ensued from the ladies who felt that their end was nigh, but fortunately this didn’t happen. A boat was launched and one of the crew rescued him, brought him back to the ferry and took him downstairs to dry out. The passengers took up a collection for the crewman and raised three pounds in gratitude to him for saving the young man’s life.
In 1862, excursion traffic to Manly was beginning to take off, particularly in the holiday periods. Easter Monday of that year saw a large number of people flocking to Manly, many buying return tickets on the assortment of vessels that cashed in on the day. It would appear that several of the operators were less than honest however, with several of the steamers not returning in the afternoon to collect their passengers and it was left to Phantom alone to collect upwards of 1500 people left at Manly. She ran through the night with the last pick up being at around 2.30am on Tuesday morning in the pouring rain. The efforts of the crew to clear the people drew great acclaim from those who had been caught out and much vitriol against the shoddy operators who had failed to come back. This seemed to be a common event; even as late as the early 1900’s there were similar complaints against the Manly boats and overcrowding on holidays was quite widespread with several masters being charged for the offence. The same sad sequence of events was repeated in May on the Queen’s Birthday holiday and it would appear that the authorities did nothing about it – Phantom again gained kudos for clearing the crowds almost single-handedly, this time with some help from the equally small Herald who was rushed into operation to assist.
By late 1862 a new vessel had been purchased to join Phantom on the Manly route; the bigger Breadlabane was a single ended paddle wheel steamer that had previously seen service at Moreton Bay. The vessel received a major overhaul and was painted to match her running mate according to an article of the day. She ran her first trip on the 30th November 1862 and her addition freed up Phantom to run an extra daily trip to Watsons Bay.
On Boxing Day 1863 the two regulars were joined by Paterson, Hunter and Urara to run throughout the day to and from Manly starting at 10am and not operating to any schedule. For the day Phantom was advertised as having refreshments available on board (for reasonable rates) and the Sacramento Minstrels had been engaged to perform aboard at no extra cost. The report made on the following day stated that the day had gone smoothly and that no passengers remained inconvenienced at the end of the festivities – a far cry from the Easter Monday fiasco of the previous year. Apparently the inclusion of entertainers was a great success for we find an advertisement in early 1866 calling for “TO (sp) musicians to play aboard the popular steamer PHANTOM”. The band that was hired was called “Burns Band” and they were advertised as being available for use off the boat as well.
Perhaps her most unusual engagement occurred in the following year when she hosted a wedding party on board; the groom worked on board the vessel as a steward and the bride was “fresh” from Northamptonshire.
In 1868 Captain Hutton who had been her full time master since her arrival in Sydney retired to great acclaim and the presentation of a testimonial from the owners of the vessel. Praise was given to him for the service he had provided and for his courtesy towards the public. It was also mentioned that, to his credit, he had assisted in the rescue of no less than seventeen people from the harbour in the course of his duties – what wasn’t mentioned was that at least eight of those rescues occurred due to Phantom running down several small vessels! Later in the same year a similar testimonial was accorded to a crew member named Beager with “Manlyites” being exorted to “rally around your old friend”.
May 1869 saw the arrival of a third vessel to the growing fleet; Cobra. This boat had been built in 1849, and was of a similar size to Phantom. She would go on to last until 1917 before finally being broken up. Manly now had a three boat service and the timetable was extended as a result.
But by 1870, despite the popularity of the three vessels, changes were coming to the little fleet. A forced mortgage sale saw 31/64th shares in Phantom offered for sale and 26/64th shares in Breadalbane on offer. The half on offer belonged to Thomas Heselton and was picked up by a company calling themselves the “Steam Tug and Manly Beach Steamer Company”. The following year Heselton would purchase back all shares in both vessels and the company itself. Later in the year a fourth steamer, Goolwa, was added to the fleet. Goolwa was a much bigger boat and could carry six hundred passengers, more than the other three put together; the need for greater carrying capacity on the route dictated her purchase.
Goolwa was followed in 1873 by the even bigger Royal Alfred, capable of carrying some 750 people; she heralded the end of Goolwa who was relegated to tug duties for the next three years until she was sold to Newcastle interests. Now, with this large vessel on the run, the lifetime of the remaining two smaller vessels was very limited. Goolwa appears to have run her last scheduled service late in December 1873 after which she is no longer mentioned. But Phantom still had some life in her and the New Year saw her emerge from a major overhaul. The addition in May of 1874 of the Mystery saw the fleet once again expanded to four boats. A fifth vessel, Manly, was added later that year, though she was mainly engaged in towing, tug duties and weekend excursions.
January 1875 saw large changes happening with all five boats and the rights to Manly Pier being sold for a total of twenty seven thousand pounds to the Port Jackson Steamboat Company. This was the true birth of the eventual single Manly operator, the Port Jackson and Manly Steamship Company.
By now Phantom was no longer in use on the Manly route on weekends, her small capacity was hopelessly inadequate for the large crowds travelling there. Instead her weekends were now devoted to excursion traffic to Mosman, Longueville and later, Athol Gardens. She still operated her regular run on weekdays however.
1876 saw the Emu (second of the name) joining the fleet, she would eventually become the Brightside and be one of the mainstays of the trade right into the 1890’s, in the process also garnering much bad press as the so-called “Coffin Ship”. Her addition would hasten the end of Phantom as a Manly boat with a now much reduced schedule given to her in favour of the new ferry.
The end came for her Manly service in October 1878 when both she and Manly where offered for sale. Manly was replaced by the new tug Commodore and Phantom succumbed to the new luxurious and large Fairlight; the first purpose built Manly ferry. The 19th of October saw her operate to Manly for the last time and indeed, so pleased were the company to be rid of her, that they placed an ad in the Sydney Morning Herald stating:
“The partnership hitherto existing between the Manly Beachites and the P. S. Phantom has been dissolved by mutual consent.”
A sad ending for what had been a profitable partnership for nearly twenty years between the vessel and the people of Manly.
Phantom was sold to the Harmer partnership (Watsons Bay Regular Steam Ferry Company) and immediately received a major refit at Mort’s, coming out as what was described as basically a new vessel. She performed well at her sea trials and was immediately placed into service to Watsons Bay along with the company’s’ other steamers Swansea and Golden Rose. She now operated an hourly return service from 6am to 6pm daily. They were joined in 1882 by the small Victor and the Alathea.
There was no doubt that Phantom was a popular boat, as even after her retirement from Manly there are indications that people specifically travelled to Watsons Bay just to ride on her; the owners at the time took advantage of this and advertised her to suit. As well, she had in her past received a nickname, “Puffing Billy” – perhaps due to the sometimes slow trips or maybe because of her distinctive habit of blowing smoke rings.
Another thing that she was famous for was the “Hot Potato Club”. This was started by engineer Robert Grant who roasted hot potatoes on the fire grate. Along with bread and coffee, these were served to patrons on the way home to Manly in the evenings.
In 1885 she was finally withdrawn from service and in the following year she was broken up at Pyrmont. The pioneering Manly boat had given some 27 years of service, much of it to Manly and was recalled by the Manly company in 1886 upon delivery of Narrabeen, the previous “rift” obviously having been forgotten.
So, in the end, her reputation restored, she finally passed away – a truly important boat in the history of both Sydney Harbour and in particular Manly.
Known crew:
1861 - 1868 - James Matthew Hutton (Master)
1862 - S H Wilson (Master & Owner)
1864 - James Newton (Steward)
1866 - Robert Grant (Engineer)
1866 - A Henderson (Sailor)
1868 - Mr Beager (Engine Driver)
1871 - Robert Heselton (Master)
1871 - James Murray (Deck Hand)
1878 - Neils Nicholson
1879 - Captain Snowden (Master)
1881 - James Napier (Engineer)