Hugh Brodie
Vessel numberHV000736
Builder
Sargent & Burton
Previous owner
Melbourne High School
Previous owner
Benalla Rowing Club
Date1968
DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 7.8 m × 7.5 m × 0.2 m (25.59 ft × 24.61 ft × 0.66 ft)
DescriptionThe shell HUGH BRODIE was originally built for Melbourne High School. It is 7.8m long and made with a cold moulded veneer hull over Oregon stringers, breast hooks and knees. Some marine ply is also used. It was rowed as a pair and had a coxswains seat, rudder and yoke.
HUGH BRODIE was christened in July 1968 by Air Vice Marshall H Wrigley, and was one of two tub pairs, the other being the KEITH 'BLUEY' TRUSCOTT. The story is recorded “Strong Like Its Pillars - Melbourne High School 1905-2005 - Victoria's First State Secondary School,” by Dr Alan Gregory.
Hugh Rowell Brodie was a student at the school from 1926 to 1930, and returned as a teacher in 1940. He won the Special Exhibitions for British History in 1929 and European History in 1930. He served in 460 Squadron Bomber Command flying in Wellington twin engine bombers. Hugh Brodie was killed over Germany on 3 June 1942. He wrote 'An Airman's Prayer'.
When HUGH BRODIE was no longer required by the school it was sold, and the only known owner since that time is Benalla Rowing Club. Sargent and Burton were Sydney based rowing shell and scull builders. They had yards at Abbotsford and then Mortlake.
SignificanceHUGH BRODIE is a wooden training shell built in NSW It was built by Sargent and Burton, one of the primary wooden rowing craft builders in the 1960s through to the 1980s.. It is rigged as a pair. The shell is in excellent condition and represents the final era of wooden shell building, with its moulded hull and light but strong structure. It has had a strong association with Melbourne High School, taking its name for a former student and staff member who died serving the country in World War II.
1944
1939
H Lounder
