Mt. Pleasant

Vessel numberHV000252

Vessel Registration NumberJA82 N

Builder W Holmes Boat Builder

Previous owner H.Digney and Co.

Previous owner Royal Australian Navy (Australian, founded 1913)

Previous owner N D Hegarty & Son

Previous owner Maritime Services Board of New South Wales

Date1916

DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 14.02 m x 12.8 m x 3.66 m x 0.81 m (46 ft x 42 ft x 12 ft x 2.66 ft)

DescriptionMT PLEASANT is one of small number of ferries known to have been built by William Holmes. The ferry was built for H Digney and Co. in Saratoga on the north-east corner of Brisbane Water and christened and launched at Saratoga in September 1916. The vessel had a Standard Oil engine and was licensed to carry 70 passengers. MT PLEASANT operated between local Brisbane Water wharves on scheduled and charter services. One of these wharves, at Mt Pleasant near Saratoga, may have given the vessel its name.

MT PLEASANT is carvel-planked in oregon, a good example of a typical hull shape of the period, with a plumb stem and elegant overhanging counter stern.

MT PLEASANT was seconded to the Royal Australian Navy in both WWI and WWII where it was used variously as a workboat and moored accommodation for sailors. Digney's is understood to have sold the craft to Sydney Harbour firm Hegarty Ferries in the mid 1930s, (although one source suggests it was much earlier). Hegarty Ferries later sold it to the Maritime Services Board of NSW which used it as a workboat and ferry on Sydney Harbour. At an unknown date the vessel was sold again and converted for use as a private motor vessel. In 2007 a major restoration was started.

SignificanceMT PLEASANT is a wooden ferry built by William Holmes in Sydney in 1916. It is one of the few surviving New South Wales Central Coast ferries from a substantial fleet from the first half of the 20th century. It operated on Brisbane Water on the Central Coast before moving to Sydney Harbour. MT PLEASANT saw war service during both WWI and WWII.