GEM paddle steamer 1876

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aukepalmhof
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GEM paddle steamer 1876

Post by aukepalmhof » Wed Jan 12, 2022 1:34 am

The Gem depicted on this stamp was built by Air & Watergaard at Moama, NSW for E.C. Randell.
1876 Launched as the GEM, christened by Miss M. Hansen.
Tonnage 80 tons.
The hull was built of red gum timbers.
Registered at Melbourne.

On her first voyage loaded with 22 tons, towed by the paddle steamer PEARL, downriver the Murray and the Darling to the junction of these rivers.
September 1878 sold to E.P. Sabine and fitted out as a paddle steamer.
Horizontal High-Pressure steam engine, 40 shp., manufactured by Davey Bross at Ballarat (other sources give Dauey Bross).
Tonnage 143 gross, 101 net, dim. 93.4 x 20.4 x 6.7ft.
She was then a three-decked cargo-passenger vessel.
November 1879 registered at Port Adelaide.
August 1880 she raced against the paddle steamer TRAFALGAR for 300 miles between Wentworth and Morgan for a bet of £100 aside, which the TRAFALGAR won.
October 1880 in a new race between the two vessels from Lake Victoria Station to Wentworth the GEM won by 15 minutes.
November sold to W.L. Reid and Partners (another source give Ried).
Because of the increase of river traffic, the GEM was lengthened in Goolwa, South Australia in 1882. The intention was to rename her in ISABELLA after lengthening as a local newspaper mentioned in June 1882.
“ISABELLA, late GEM was successfully launched and placed alongside the Union Wharf after undergoing a thorough repair and lengthening of 40 ft., making her the most commodious passenger boat on the river.”
But she was not renamed in any official register.
She was cut in half across the beam, dragged apart by bullock teams and a new mid-section built-in.
Tonnage 228 gross, 183 net, dim 133.6 x 20.7 x 6.6ft.
Had sleeping accommodation for 40 passengers and 17 crew.
At that time she was the largest passenger vessel on the River Murray.
November 1888 Sold to Capt. Hugh King & Geo. Chaffey for a short while.
December 1888 already sold to the River Murray Navigation Co. Ltd & H. King.
March 1889 sold to River Murray Navigation Ltd.
On 5 November 1892 was reported that the engine was modified in a compound steam engine and a new multi-tubular underfired boiler manufactured by Smith & Sons, Lancashire was installed.
1910 Sold to Ben Chaffey & Landseer.
June 1915 sold to Gem Navigation Co.
July 1919 sold to Murray Shipping Ltd. (from 1888 until sold in 1953 she was owned by the same family but due to bankrupts transferred from one company to another, in the same family).
April 1939 it was reported in the press that the vessel had been almost totally rebuilt and was intended for the tourist trade on the river. Most probably during this refit, her funnel was altered so that it could be lowered to pass under the many bridges that crossed the river.
November 1984 she was snagged in Huggin’s Cutting near Cal Cal, NSW, and one of the 52 tourists died while packing his suitcase prior to being taken ashore.
August 1953 sold to W.B. Price, later to A.H. Wilkens.
Around 1962 was she offered to the Mildura council, with the suggestion it could become a museum, but the offer was rejected.
1962 the GEM was purchased by the Swan Hill Folk Museum for 2000 Australian dollars.
She was towed to the museum by the paddle steamer OSCAR W, but her last tow was not without incident by the rapidly falling of the river level at the Bitch & Pups, she and her tow had to lay up till the next year.
Till 1974 not much work on her restoration was done and at that time used as Australian first bush-tucker restaurant and reception area and shops, all other cabins were locked up or used as an office by the museum staff. Her engines were removed.
2022 The Gem now rests within a dam at the Pioneer Settlement, without an engine. In more recent years, the GEM has been completely restored with fresh paint and upgrades, including the removal of all the art gallery and restaurant fittings.

More info is given by Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS_Gem

: R Parsons, “Ships of the Inland Rivers.” G Andrews “Veteran Ships of Australia and New Zealand.”
Australia 1972 80c sg 529, Scott?
Attachments
GEM paddle steamer about 1909 (2).jpg
GEM paddle steamer about 1909 (2).jpg (90.8 KiB) Viewed 487 times
1972 GEM Paddle-Steamer (2).jpg
1972 GEM Paddle-Steamer (2).jpg (111.58 KiB) Viewed 487 times

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