TRIM- escorting the bride to her wedding

Images(5)

TRIM aboard SS ROSNY in Hobart date unknown

Trim

Vessel numberHV000596

Previous owner Rosny Estates & Ferry Co Ltd

Builder Fred Moore

Previous owner Tamar Cruises Pty Ltd

Previous owner 18th Launceston Sea Scouts

Previous owner 1st Trevallyn Sea Scout Group

Previous owner Sunrise Picture Co.

Date1913

DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 4.57 m x 1.68 m x 0.27 m, 0.22 tonnes (15 ft x 5.5 ft x 0.9 ft, 0.22 tons)

DescriptionThe 4.57m long open boat hull is double-ended and clinker built in Huon pine with nine strakes each side. The keel profile is straight and it has strong gunwales, three thwarts and four rowing positions, with two each side being off-set. A recent adaptation is a sailing rig and rudder on the stern.

The ferry ROSNY was commissioned by the Rosny Estates & Ferry Co Ltd in 1912. The design came from the experienced Sydney based naval architect Walter Reeks, and it was built at Battery Point in Hobart by Frederick and Harry Moore. It is most likely that the two lifeboats located on the fore and aft deck above the main cabins were also built by Moore, and probably to their own design based on the proportions allowed by the area available on the deck, or an outline provided by Reeks on the main drawings for the ferry.

ROSNY worked on the Derwent from 1913 to 1919, and then serviced areas around Hobson’s Bay on Port Phillip in Victoria until 1931, before returning to Hobart and working on the Bellerive to Hobart run until 1963. It is difficult to know what if any use the lifeboats had in this time. They would have been periodically removed for maintenance, but whether they were ever used in the water extensively remains unknown.

ROSNY was sold to Tamar Cruises at Launceston in 1963 and went north but the company went into liquidation in 1964 and ROSNY was laid up on the Tamar River. It sank at its moorings in 1968, and amongst the items salvaged and sold at auction was this lifeboat.

The 18th Launceston Sea Scouts bought the lifeboat for use as a training boat and called it JAMES COOK. In 1987 it was sold to Rod Clarke, and then in 1998 it was sold to the 1st Trevallyn Sea Scout Group in Launceston. In 2005 it was bought for use in a television documentary ‘Darwin Harbour’ which included the 1895 voyage of a vessel called FORLORN HOPE.

Another ferry based lifeboat on the ARHV is LYNWOOD II (HV000228), which is understood to have been used on the Sydney Harbour ferries. It is also a double-ended hull shape built in clinker and a similar size.

The current owners bought the vessel in 2102, and named it TRIM in honour of Matthew Flinders’ cat of that name that had survived a circumnavigation Australia amongst other sea going exploits. They undertook a complete overhaul of the craft, which remains in its original open boat configuration. It has been adapted for sailing with the addition of a headsail, gunter rig mainsail, centrecase and dagger board, rudder and tiller.

SignificanceTRIM is a lifeboat from the Tasmanian ferry SS ROSNY which was built in 1913 in Hobart. The ferry operated on the Derwent River over two periods that were separated by service on Port Phillip Victoria. ROSNY was retired in 1963 and later sank on its moorings on the Tamar River in 1968. The lifeboat, one of two carried on the ferry, is the only substantial item remaining from the ferry which was an important vessel for the Derwent River and the development of Hobart’s suburbs. It was one of a number of items salvaged from the ferry and auctioned off, where it has since had varied use with two scout groups and other owners in Launceston.