12 minute read
A humble but historic craft
John Cuthbert’s shipyard, Darling Harbour, c 1850s, artist unknown. The sailing vessel in the lower left foreground is believed to be Spitfire. Image courtesy Dixson Galleries, State Library of New South Wales, File Number FL1150905
The long, strange journey of Spitfire, Australia’s first homegrown warship
Colonial New South Wales had long relied on Britain for its defence, but in the mid19th century, the spectre of foreign invasion prompted the construction of local defence vessels, of which Spitfire was the first. A humble craft by naval standards of the day, Spitfire would serve in a military capacity for only two years. The quality of the vessel’s design and construction, however, ensured its survival and continued use for nearly half a century, during which it contributed to the maritime development of colonial Queensland. Dr James Hunter traces its history.
AT HALF PAST 10 ON THE MORNING of 4 April 1855, Susan Cuthbert raised a bottle of wine and broke it against the bow of a small timber vessel lying on the stocks in the shipyard owned by her husband, Sydney shipbuilder John Cuthbert. Moments later, the dog shores holding the craft in place were knocked away, and it slid into Darling Harbour to the ‘loud and enthusiastic cheers’ of those observing from shore.1 This auspicious moment marked the launch of the gunboat Spitfire, Australia’s first domestically built warship and the first naval vessel ordered by an Australian colonial government for defence purposes.
‘She will prove a swift sailer’ Spitfire was ordered by the New South Wales colonial government in response to fears of foreign naval assault. In the wake of the Australian gold rushes of the early 1850s, Victoria moved to acquire a British-built ‘war steamer’ for its naval defence, and likely influenced colonial administrators in New South Wales also concerned about protecting their share of the continent’s newfound mineral wealth. At the same time, the Crimean War (1853–56), which pitted Great Britain against Imperial Russia, had been raging for two years and raised the spectre of seaborne invasion by Russia’s Pacific fleet. A more immediate worry, however, was New Caledonia, which was annexed by France in 1853, putting a foreign military right on Australia’s doorstep. By the time Spitfire slid down the ways, the continent’s protection relied almost entirely on periodic visits by Royal Navy ships and residual garrisons of the British Army that together proved wholly inadequate as a permanent defence force. In Sydney, for example, the harbour’s primary naval asset was HMS Acheron, a 17-year-old paddle sloop of obsolete design that only mounted three guns to repel an enemy attack. Although a sail-powered gunboat was exceptionally rare in the Royal Navy by the 1850s – at minimum, most British warships featured auxiliary steam propulsion – Spitfire’s acquisition was a quick and practical solution to the shortfalls in New South Wales’ maritime defence. John Cuthbert’s shipyard was contracted to build the vessel, which took only two months to complete. Although the speed with which Spitfire was assembled was credited to Cuthbert’s ‘usual alacrity’, the more likely reason is that it was adapted from a small schooner already under construction at the time the contract commenced.2 This is supported by contemporary accounts that the gunboat handled well and was comfortable in heavy weather, ‘despite the keel having been reduced at the time of building’.3 Members of the colony’s Legislative Council also noted, with dissatisfaction, that Spitfire was not fit for use as a gunboat, as it had ‘been partly built already in Cuthbert’s yard … but not for this purpose’.4 Whether or not Spitfire was adapted from an existing vessel already under construction, there is little doubt it was well built and exhibited superb sailing qualities. A diminutive craft, it registered 65 tons burthen when launched, with a length between perpendiculars of 62 feet (18.9 metres), a beam of 16 feet 6 inches (5.1 metres) and a depth of 5 feet 6 inches (1.7 metres). The keel was hewn from ironbark (possibly Eucalyptus siderophloia) and the frames from blackbutt (E pilularis). Kauri (Agathis sp) was used for the gunboat’s ceiling (interior) and hull (exterior) planking, the latter of which was covered in a protective layer of 22-ounce copper sheathing below the waterline. Diagonal braces hewn from ‘2½ inch hardwood’ and deck knees designed ‘on the most improved principle’ (that is, manufactured from iron) were installed within the hull to strengthen it and accommodate the weight of Spitfire’s proposed armament – a single 32-pounder smoothbore cannon mounted on a traversing carriage situated between the fore and main masts.5 Copper fastenings were used to assemble most, if not all, of the gunboat’s many architectural elements. At the time of its launch, Spitfire was outfitted with a ketch rig and running bowsprit. Only a year later, it was described as a schooner, but this is probably a generic, rather than accurate, label for its rig, as the terms ‘ketch’ and ‘schooner’ alternately appear in association with the vessel over the course of its life. Spitfire’s low hull featured a raked stem and square counter stern and is described as a ‘clipper ketch’ in at least one archival source, which suggests a sharp bow and streamlined shape built for speed. The gunboat’s bulwarks could be rapidly lowered to permit a clear field of fire for its traversing gun, and the weather deck was roomy enough to allow space for a large mooring buoy and at least one whaleboat. A small cabin located aft included berths for four officers, while accommodation for the ratings was located in the main hold. In terms of seaworthiness and handling qualities, Spitfire was highly regarded, described as a ‘swift sailer’ that made ‘nine knots on a bowline during a fresh breeze’, and proved ‘very weatherly’ during a heavy southerly gale it encountered on its first bluewater sea trial between Sydney and Victoria’s Gabo Island in September 1855.6
From gunboat to ‘buoy-boat’ By the end of 1855, the Crimean War was entering its final phase: Sebastopol had fallen on 9 August, and Russia’s Pacific Fleet – the much-feared bogeyman that prompted Spitfire’s construction – had been discovered in May hidden in the Amur River. Having effectively retreated to safety, it was no longer a threat to British interests in the Asia–Pacific region. With the cessation of hostilities in February 1856, the New South Wales government was no longer on a war footing and had already begun disposing of naval assets in Sydney Harbour. Acheron was sold at Sydney in September 1855, and HMS Torch, another Royal Navy paddle steamer that conducted hydrographic survey work in Australian waters, was also sold there in May 1856. Spitfire was a relatively new vessel – and the only military craft owned outright by the New South Wales government – so it was redirected to other tasks rather than sold. By December 1856, the Legislative Council reported it was ‘employed chiefly in conveying stores and provisions to … lighthouses on the coast’ and, revealingly, that it ‘had not been armed’.7 In fact, there is little evidence to suggest Spitfire was ever outfitted with its primary armament, as all the 32-pounder cannon then in use in Sydney’s defensive network were distributed among coastal fortifications and visiting British warships.
Spitfire at Cooktown during its final years as a bêche-de-mer fishing vessel, c 1890s. Image courtesy Royal Australian Navy
Woodcut engraving of the gunboat Spitfire as originally built and rigged, c 1855. Image courtesy Royal Australian Navy
The lack of an actual gun aboard the colony’s remaining gunboat may very well have prompted the government to put it up for sale in March 1857. According to an auction notice in the Sydney Morning Herald, Spitfire was going under the hammer ‘only … in consequence of [its] services not being required as anticipated’.8 Interestingly, the same notice also states the vessel was sheathed in Muntz metal (a specific form of copper-alloy hull sheathing different from the ‘22-ounce’ variety that would have been manufactured largely from copper), although it is unclear whether this means the hull was sheathed in Muntz metal when built, or re-clad in it before being put up for sale. Despite exhibiting ‘workmanship and material [equal] to any vessel built in her Majesty’s service’, Spitfire did not find a buyer; however, it caught the attention of the police magistrate for Moreton Bay, Captain John Clements Wickham, who petitioned the New South Wales government to supply a replacement for the pilot vessel and buoy tender Pearl. 9 The request was ultimately approved, and a five-man crew sailed Spitfire to Moreton Bay to embark upon its new career as a ‘buoy-boat’ in July 1857.
Queensland service
Queensland was granted status as a separate Australian colony in June 1859, and ownership of Spitfire was transferred to the new government in December. As one of the best vessels then at the colony’s disposal, its duties soon grew to include piloting, as well as exploration and survey of inshore coastal waters north of Moreton Bay. In late August 1860, Spitfire departed Brisbane with an expedition – which included explorer George Dalrymple – intent on locating the mouth of the Burdekin River. Along the way, it successfully navigated the Fitzroy River from its mouth to the frontier settlement at Rockhampton, and narrowly avoided grounding on a coral pinnacle in the Whitsundays that now bears the name ‘Spitfire Rock’. On 28 September, the expedition found the entrance to the Burdekin River, but noted it was unnavigable to large ships and entirely unsuited to the establishment of a port. With the exception of a 10-day voyage in April 1861 to survey rivers north of Brisbane, Spitfire spent the rest of the decade serving as the pilot vessel and buoy tender for the northern reaches of Moreton Bay. It was dismasted and nearly lost during a severe south-easterly gale in 1873, and reportedly in such a state of disrepair by 1875 that its crew could not ‘get a dry place to rest’ in ‘boisterous and rainy weather’, and were drenched by ‘either rain or sea-water … during meal time at the cabin table’.10 According to a former Moreton Bay Pilot Service employee, Spitfire was a ‘strong and … good sea boat’, but exhibited an inability to beat to windward that made it ‘very ill-adapted’ for the pilot service.11 It is perhaps something of a surprise, then, that following the arrival of the new pilot schooner Governor Cairns at Brisbane in 1879, Spitfire was sent north to serve as a pilot vessel and buoy tender for the fledgling gold rush settlement at Cooktown.
Northern Queensland’s labyrinthine coral reefs and strong trade winds proved challenging to Spitfire’s diminished sailing qualities, and it spent most of the first three years of the 1880s confined to Cooktown’s immediate inshore waters. Two notable exceptions included an unsuccessful expedition to Cape Sidmouth to investigate reports of a European woman living
among Aboriginal people, and the recovery of the remains of Mary Watson, her infant son and a Chinese labourer named Ah Sam. The three died of exposure on Island Number Five of the Howick Group in October 1881 after fleeing an attack on the bêche-de-mer (sea slug) processing station at Lizard Island owned by Watson’s husband. Spitfire was also involved in the rescue of crewmen from the German steamer Freya, which wrecked at Osprey Reef in October 1882.
Final years Given its sailing deficiencies, Spitfire’s days as a pilot vessel were numbered, and in 1883 it was replaced by the schooner Ethel (which, ironically, was reported by Cooktown’s mayor to be ‘no improvement’ on its predecessor).12 Spitfire was surveyed two years later, declared unworthy of repair and sold for £300 to Messrs Power and Thomas Madden, who converted it for use as a bêche-de-mer fishing vessel. It continued in this capacity through the next decade and was rebuilt extensively for civilian employment. Incredibly, the vessel survived Cyclone Sigma while moored off Hinchinbrook Island on 26 January 1896, but was heavily damaged and sold shortly after arriving in Cairns under jury rig. Its new owners, Andrew Allison and Edward Donegan, immediately put it back into service in the bêche-de-mer fishery, but 43 years of continual service had clearly taken their toll. On 21 September 1898, Spitfire developed a leak while moored in Temple Bay in far north Queensland and foundered near the Piper Island Lightship. The crew survived and were later rescued by the Japanese steamship Omi Maru. The wreck site has never been located.
References 1. ‘Launch of the first Australian gun-boat’, [Sydney] Empire, 5 April 1855, p 4. 2. Ibid. 3. R Hobbs, A Shipwright in the Colonies: John Cuthbert, 1815–1874, Nautical Association of Australia, Melbourne, 2017, p 20. 4. Ibid. 5. ‘Sales by auction: The fine colonial-built Government Ketch Spitfire’, Sydney Morning Herald, 13 March 1857, p 7. 6. [Sydney] Empire, 5 April 1855, p. 4; ‘Sydney shipping’, Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, 3 October 1855, p 2. 7. ‘Proceedings of the Executive Council with respect to the defences of Port Jackson’, [Sydney] Empire, 23 December 1856, p 2. 8. ‘Sales by auction: The fine colonial-built Government Ketch Spitfire’, Sydney Morning Herald, 13 March 1857, p 7. 9. Ibid. 10. ‘Moreton Bay Pilot Service’, [Brisbane] Telegraph, 11 May 1875, p 3. 11. Ibid. 12. Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay and Burnett Advertiser, 15 May 1885, p 3. Further reading [Adelaide] Chronicle, ‘A schooner founders’, 17 December 1898, p 24. Brisbane Courier, ‘Shipping items’, 26 October 1898, p 3. Collector of Customs (Brisbane), ‘Vessel Registry: Sailing Vessel Spitfire (No 2 of 1887)’, Register of British Ships: Registers of Transactions Subsequent to First Registry, Port of Sydney (1856–1949). National Archives of Australia, Canberra. Gillett, Ross, 1982, Australia’s Colonial Navies. Naval Historical Society of Australia, Garden Island (NSW). Jones, Colin, 1998, ‘The colonial gunboat Spitfire’, Royal Historical Society of Queensland Journal, Vol 16 No 11, pp 477–485. Moreton Bay Courier, ‘Report of the Burdekin Expedition’, 1 November 1860. Straczek, Joseph, 1981, ‘Spitfire: The first Australian-built warship’, Naval Historical Review. Sydney Daily Telegraph, ‘The Lizard Island tragedy’, 27 January 1882, p 3.
