The K-class ferries were a group of double-ended screw steam ferries run by

Sydney Ferries Limited Sydney Ferries Limited operated ferry services on Sydney Harbour from 1900 until June 1951. The company grew out of the North Shore Steam Ferry Company and took over smaller ferry operators to become the largest ferry operator in Sydney's his ...

and its government successors on

Sydney Harbour Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

. The company introduced more than two dozen of the vessels from the 1890s through to the early twentieth century to meet the booming demand for ferry services across Sydney Harbour prior to the opening of the

Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The view of the bridg ...

in 1932. The K-names were largely Australian Aboriginal names with their meanings listed in the table below.

Design

The K-class were not a group of identical ferries - they were delivered in batches of two or three identical sister ships - rather they were a general type of vessel that ranged in sized but shared a typical form. They were all double-deck, double-ended screw steamers with two raised wheelhouses and a single tall funnel. Apart from a few early vessels with open upper decks that were later enclosed, the K-class had enclosed upper and lower saloons with lower deck outdoor seating around the vessel, and the upper decks had smaller outdoor areas at either end around the wheelhouses. The boats were all timber-hulled with timber superstructures, except for four later and larger vessels that had steel hulls and timber superstructures - namely, sisters '' Kanangra'' and ''

Kirawa ''Kirawa'' was a ferry on Sydney Harbour. She was a near identical sister vessel with '' Kanangra'' both of which were launched in 1912 during the early-twentieth pre-Sydney Harbour Bridge boom years of Sydney Ferries Limited. They were the fi ...

'' (both 1912) and sisters '' Kuttabul'' and ''

Koompartoo ''Koompartoo'' was a 1922 Sydney Ferries Limited K-class ferry later converted to a Royal Australian Navy boom defence vessel. ''Koompartoo'', described in the press as a "Dreadnought for the Milsons Point run" and "a titan amongst ferries", ...

'' (both 1922). The boats' upper deck sheer or profile line were curved parallel to the hull sheer, in contrast to many contemporary ferries whose upper deck was built straight fore and aft. ''

Kareela Kareela is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. History Kareela was the first mixed-use estate developed by Stockland, developed in 1953. The estate was originally called Sylvan Headland. Sylvan Headland ...

'' was the first of Sydney Ferries Limited to have upper decks fully enclosed. The earlier K-class vessels, including '' Kurraba'', ''

Kirribilli Kirribilli is a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. One of the city's most established and affluent neighbourhoods, it is located three kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area administere ...

'', '' Koree'' and ''

Kulgoa ''Kulgoa'' was a " K-class" ferry on Sydney Harbour. Launched in 1905, the timber-hulled steamer was built for Sydney Ferries Limited during the boom in cross-harbour ferry travel prior to the 1932 opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. ''Kulgoa'' ...

'' had only the sides of their upper decks enclosed leaving the ends open, with the roofs being squared off. On ''Kareela'' and all subsequent K-class vessels had an upper deck structure with curving roof lines that met at the rear of the wheelhouses thus the upper deck saloon was fully enclosed. Sliding doors gave access to the a small unroofed area surrounding the raised wheelhouses.

Service history

The ferry trade to the North Shore increased rapidly and consistently from the turn of the century until the opening of the

in 1932. The Sydney Ferries fleet became one of the largest in the world - the bulk of which in number and capacity were K-class - and carried 40 million passengers per year by the 1930s. With the opening of the bridge, many of the K-class vessels were deemed redundant and were decommissioned. More still were decommissioned following the NSW State Government takeover of Sydney Ferries in 1951. A handful of the K-class ferries (''

Karingal Karingal is a local area within the suburb of Frankston located in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia. It is in the local government area of the City of Frankston (app. 45 km South East from the Melbourne CBD) History European settleme ...

'', '' Karrabee'', '' Kanangra'', ''

Kameruka ''Kameruka'' and ''Kamiri'' were near identical ferries that served on Sydney Harbour. ''Kamiri'' was built in 1912 and ''Kameruka'' was launched on 8 February 1913. They were double-ended " K-class" steam ferries, a type that was prolific on Sydn ...

'') were in service until the mid-1980s having been converted to diesel in the 1930s and 1950s. During the launch speech for ''

Kaikai Kaikai is a surname, and may refer to: * Ansumana Jaia Kaikai, Sierra Leonean politician * Linus Kaikai, Kenyan journalist * Moijueh Kaikai, Sierra Leonean politician * Septimus Kaikai, Sierra Leonean politician and broadcaster * Sullay Kaikai ( ...

'' in 1906, Sydney Ferries acknowledged they were deliberately naming their vessels with Aboriginal words starting with the letter "K".ferriesofsydney.com
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List of K-class vessels

Notes

References

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External links