''Yelta'' is a

steam tug A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

which operated in the Australian state of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

from 1949 to 1976 within both the Port River and the waters of

Gulf St Vincent Gulf St Vincent, sometimes referred to as St Vincent Gulf, St Vincent's Gulf or Gulf of St Vincent, is the eastern of two large inlets of water on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, the other being the larger Sp ...

immediately adjoining the river's mouth. After being laid up for about nine years, she was purchased in 1985 by the

Government of South Australia The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government, SA Government or more formally, His Majesty’s Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of South Australia. It is modelled o ...

for addition to the collection of the

South Australian Maritime Museum The South Australian Maritime Museum is a state government museum, part of the History Trust of South Australia. The Museum opened in 1986 in a collection of historic buildings in the heart of Port Adelaide, South Australia's first heritage prec ...

as a

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

. As of 1985, she was considered to be the only remaining steam-powered tug operating within Australian waters. ''Yelta'' was built at the

Cockatoo Island Dockyard The Cockatoo Island Dockyard was a major dockyard in Sydney, Australia, based on Cockatoo Island. The dockyard was established in 1857 to maintain Royal Navy warships. It later built and repaired military and battle ships, and played a key role ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, during 1948 by the

Cockatoo Docks & Engineering Company The Cockatoo Docks & Engineering Company was a ship building and maintenance company which operated the Cockatoo Island Dockyard on Cockatoo Island in Sydney, Australia between 1933 and 1992. History The Cockatoo Docks & Engineering Company ...

for Ritch & Smith of

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

, South Australia. After an 11-day voyage from Sydney, ''Yelta'' arrived in Port Adelaide on 22 February 1949. Until her retirement in 1976, she assisted vessels to and from docks and other facilities within the Port River. She also assisted in refloating vessels that ran aground within the Port River such as ''Eastwave'' in 1950, ''Caltex Bombay'' in 1952, and ''Ulooloo'' and ''Trykori'' in 1953. Yelta was retired from service in November 1976. The Port Adelaide branch of the

National Trust of South Australia The National Trust of Australia, officially the Australian Council of National Trusts (ACNT), is the Australian national peak body for community-based, non-government non-profit organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's Ind ...

purchased the vessel with the objective of making "a feature of a maritime museum on a lease it holds on land on Cruickshank corner near the

Birkenhead Bridge The Birkenhead Bridge is a bascule bridge in Adelaide, Australia that crosses the Port River. In February 1938, the Government of South Australia awarded a contract to Adelaide Construction to build a bridge across the Port River from Birkenhead ...

." The plan for a maritime museum did not proceed due to the plans of the Government of South Australia to develop facilities for the South Australian Maritime Museum. In 1985, the National Trust offered the vessel for sale by tender in order to recover some of the costs expended on its own museum proposal and subsequently accepted an offer from the South Australian government who added the vessel to the collection of its maritime museum. The vessel was restored by South Australian Maritime Museum in order to "operate as both a floating museum and functional passenger vessel." Using a team of "retired and semi-retired volunteers with lengthy and comprehensive experience in various maritime industries," the vessel was re-launched on 5 October 1988 after three years of restoration. In 1985, Yelta was reported as being "Australia's last working steam-powered tug" and in 2017, it was described as a "historic vessel with strong associations with Port Adelaide, it is the only steam vessel on the river." In 2017, ''Yelta'' was one of the ships considered in a study funded by Renewal SA about "a strategy for berthing or locating historic ships and vessels within the inner harbour of Port Adelaide."

References

External links

'Steam Tug Yelta' video on YouTubeImage showing "Showing Yelta in original condition"
{{Port Adelaide landmarks, state=collapsed Ships of South Australia Tugboats of Australia 1949 ships Museum ships in Australia