This image is credited as being PLUME in the 1970s and understood to have been owned by Strides…

A view of the unusual flared bow on PEGASUS

PEGASUS in 2007 with the planking repaired and ready for caulking.

The restored and rebuilt apperture and rudder on PEGASUS in 2007.

A view of some of the structure showing the original frames left in place and now backed up wit…

The foredeck features the original cast fairlead.

SNOWFLAKE, sistership to PEGASUS, steams by what is probably Walsh Bay or Darling Harbour at a…

HV000225_8.mp4

PEGASUS undergoing restoration at Blakehurst Marina 2023.

Pegasus

Vessel numberHV000225

Previous owner Stride Bros

Builder Morrison & Sinclair

Designer Walter Reeks (1861-1925)

Previous owner Vacuum Oil Company Pty Ltd (American, 1906 - 1931)

Date1907

DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 20.12 m x 17.07 m x 5.03 m x 1.98 m, 60 tonnes (66 ft x 56 ft x 16.5 ft x 6.5 ft, 60.96 tons)

DescriptionPEGASUS is just over 20 metres long, carvel planked in New Zealand kauri with the unusual flared bow shape. It was originally steam powered. There was a cabin house on deck around the engine and boiler installation, with the helm position left exposed in front of the cabin. This was later enclosed.

The arrangement, solid construction and wide foredeck allowed the craft to fulfill the dual purpose of a tug boat and powered lighter to carry and shift cargo from barges to ships and shore.

A mast, winch and derrick were located directly in front of the helm position on the foredeck. A towing bollard, formed as an extension of the vertical post for the propeller aperture, was at the end of the deadwood keel.

The internal structure consisted of floors and frames, with a large keelson section clamping the floors to the outer keel.

The original plans still exist although PEGASUS's work as a tug and lighter is not well documented. Images of the boat at the end of its career as a workboat, at Harry Stride's ship breaking yard at Oxley Street, Rozelle Bay, Sydney, do exist.

The two original plans for the 'Steam Tug and Lighter for the Colonial Oil Company, No 207' are blueprints held in the State Library of NSW's Morrison and Sinclair collection.

Reeks was known to have designed very elegant craft, especially sailing yachts, launches and steam yachts and many of his designs had unorthodox features. PEGASUS reflects both these qualities with its graceful sheer, well proportioned superstructure and unusual bow shape.

The Colonial Oil Company became the Vacuum Oil Company in 1908 and there is confusion about the original name of PEGASUS. In 1916 Vacuum Oil Company marketed products under the names LAUREL and PLUME and it is known that there were two vessels using these names. One of these had been SNOWFLAKE which was a name in use in 1914 and was attributed to one of the craft again in the 1980s. This craft called SNOWFLAKE was once considered for restoration but was later dismantled in the 1980s, and it remains unclear what the original name was for PEGASUS.

Attracted by the appeal of its unusual hull shape, the current owner bought PEGASUS in the 1990s from Harry Stride who had bought the vessel in the 1980s.

In 2008 it was being rebuilt with a new cabin over a modern diesel installation, with the mast, derrick and winch put back to their original position. It will then retain a very similar outward appearance to its original configuration and PEGASUS will become a private recreational vessel, just over 100 years from when it was launched as a tug and lighter.
SignificancePEGASUS is wooden steam tug and lighterbuilt in NSW in 1907. It was designed for the Colonial Oil Company by prominent naval architect Walter Reeks, and built by Morrison and Sinclair at Long Nose Point, Sydney, NSW. The wide flared bow is an example of the unorthodox but practical features often found in designs by Reeks. It is one of only about three remaining commercial craft designed by Reeks.