Images(9)

XLCR in 1992 on the slips for maintenance in Victoria

XLCR on the slips ready to be launched in 1915

XLCR

Vessel numberHV000239

Builder Augustus 'Gus' Green

Designer Augustus 'Gus' Green

Previous owner Tom Radley & Sons

Previous owner Douglas Fishing Co.

Date1915

DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 14.63 m x 3.96 m x 1.98 m (48 ft x 13 ft x 6.5 ft)

Terms

DescriptionXLCR was built by Augustus “Gus” Green, born Jan 1889, twin of Henry/Harry, one half of A & H Green at Abbottsford, builders of many fine rowing sculls, etc. It is understood to have been designed by Green in collaboration with its first owner, Captain Bill Paddon and launched in 1915, and built with the assistance of Mr Tierney Wallace from Iluka.

The 14.63 metre long hull was built as carvel planked featuring a plumb stem and long counter stern and had a gaff-ketch rig. After the vessel was launched, it was fitted with a 24h.p. crude oil engine and 28 inch propeller. It now has a diesel engine, and a wheelhouse which was added in the 1950s.

From its launch until the mid 1980s XLCR operated as a fishing trawler under three different owners. Paddon operated XLCR from Yamba on the NSW north coast, introducing longline fishing and jewfish netting and even went as far south as Moruya. When Tom Radley and Francos Crochet bought the vessel in 1927 it was moved to Port Macquarie on the mid-north coast, where they pioneered fish trapping.

During this period it doubled as the rescue boat for the 18-foot skiff regattas that were held in Port Macquarie up until World War II, and in the 1950s was the rescue boat on the Hastings River.

XLCR was involved in the rescue of the fishing smack NINA MEG at Yamba early in its career, however it was most well known for its wartime role in the rescue of survivors from the sinking of the SS WOLLONGBAR, on April 29 1943.

At the time of the sinking XLCR had been fishing for snapper off the coast. Prior to that the crew thought they spotted the light of a submarine on the surface recharging its batteries. On the night the WOLLONGBAR sank, XLCR had tied up at the docks in Port Macquarie when the crew heard of the sinking. Skipper Claude Radley and his crew took XLCR across the bar in dangerous seas and headed for Crescent Head with the full knowledge that the Japanese submarine was still in the area. A Catalina plane guided XLCR to the WOLLONGBAR's liferaft with its five survivors and then XLCR landed the survivors back at Port Macquarie.

The Radley family sold XLCR in 1967 and it went to Lakes Entrance NSW where it was used for scallop fishing as well as for offshore work, again venturing down the south coast in search of fish.

XLCR moved to Portland Harbour, Victoria in 1990 and remained laid up there until 1997 when Bruce Jordan from Port Macquarie purchased it and took it back to the Hastings River. His intention was to give it to the community through a trust arrangement, and late in 1997 the Hastings Heritage Trust was established to manage a restoration project for XLCR .

This was to become an ongoing project, with XLCR remaining operational in the late 1990s where it made public appearances for the Blessing of the Fleet and Anzac Day ceremonies at Port Macquarie.

Update August 2023: St Joseph's Vocational College, Port Macquarie (now known as the Newman Senior Technical College) accepted the gift of the XLCR. The vessel was lifted from the water in December 2004 for assessment.

Mr Arthur "Sandy" Wilkinson coordinated the restoration of the hull and deck structure by a team of volunteers and the College's trade students.

Initial funding came from Mid Coast Youth Career Services in 2005 and then a grant from the Federal Government's Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government and donations of materials from several companiesenabled the work to continue.
The refit finished in 4 years and 8 months. During that time the old Gardner engine and new wheelhouse were rebuilt. The entire hull was recaulked and a new White Beech deck was laid.

Newman Senior Technical College and St Agnes Parish, Port Macquarie, provided additional funds to complete the work resulting in the XLCR being lifted back into the Hastings River on the 24th August 2009.

The XLCR will continue to enjoy a working life with traps and nets having been replaced.

SignificanceXLCR is a wooden fishing vessel built in NSW in the early 1900s. It was built by a member of the famous Green family of boatbuilders from NSW and NZ. It is a sail and auxiliary-engine powered fishing trawler and has a very close association with northern NSW coastal regions where it was built and remained operating commercially for 70 years.