A pilot cutter and mail ship off Semaphore

Watercolour painting depicting a pilot cutter nearing a typical mail ship off Semaphore. It was not until the end of the 19th Century that the government had their own vessel to take out pilots to ships. Prior to this, private vessels were used.

In the distance can be seen the timeball tower and the signal mast at Semaphore. The time ball tower was built in 1875: at 1 pm each day it would give a signal to ships in the anchorage for the chronometers to be checked against. The flagstaff would be used to indicate tides and, in the days before telephones, to indicate that pilots were required for ships wishing to enter the Port River. Pilots operated independently until they came under the control of the Marine Board in the early 20th century.

Before the construction of Outer Harbor in 1908, large ships were moored off Largs Bay/Semaphore, and the mail and passengers were brought ashore by small steam boats or sailing boats, commonly called beach-boats. The mail and any official passengers were collected by the government boat, and other passengers and their luggage by privately owned boats.

The large steamships of the overseas shipping companies, Orient Line and P&O, were too large to navigate the route down the Port River to the Inner Harbor; these ships, to save time on their highly scheduled timetables, moored in the open bay off Semaphore rather than negotiating the narrow Port River. Mail and passengers had to be taken ashore in boats. This was not always a smooth or comfortable operation for the passengers: descending from the large ships to the small boats, particularly during winter or in windy weather was not easy, and there were occasions when accidents occurred. The opening of the new facilities at Outer Harbor which allowed the ships to berth directly alongside the wharf was a much overdue and eagerly awaited development of port facilities in South Australia.

John Ford is a South Australian artist whose work documents the maritime history of Port Adelaide and of South Australia. He is a Fellow of the Australian Society of Marine Artists.

This item is reproduced courtesy of John Ford. It may be printed or saved for research or study. Use for any other purpose requires written permission from John Ford. To request approval, complete the Quote for Copy/Permission form.