View source for HMAS Kuttabul (ship)

{{About|the former ferry and naval ship|the current naval base|HMAS Kuttabul (naval base)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
{{Use Australian English|date=April 2018}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[File:Sydney ferry KUTTABUL as built 1922.jpg|300px]]
|Ship caption=''Kuttabul'' as built. 1922}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=Australia
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Australia|civil}}
|Ship name=''Kuttabul''
|Ship namesake=Aboriginal word meaning ''wonderful''
|Ship owner=[[Sydney Ferries Limited]]
|Ship operator=
|Ship registry=[[Port Jackson|Sydney]]
|Ship route=[[Circular Quay ferry wharf|Circular Quay]]-[[Milsons Point ferry wharf|Milsons Point]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Walsh Island Dockyard and Engineering Works]], [[Newcastle, New South Wales|Newcastle]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=54
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=
|Ship in service=1922
|Ship out of service=1940
|Ship identification=}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=title
|Ship country=Australia
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Australia|naval-1913}}
|Ship name=HMAS ''Kuttabul''
|Ship owner=[[Royal Australian Navy]]
|Ship out of service=
|Ship identification=O/N 150185
|Ship acquired=7 November 1940
|Ship commissioned=26 February 1941
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours= 
|Ship fate=Sunk 1 June 1942
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship type=Harbour ferry
|Ship tonnage=*{{GRT|447}}
|Ship length={{convert|183|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|36.9|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=
|Ship speed=
|Ship range=
|Ship capacity=2,250
|Ship troops=
|Ship complement=
|Ship armament=
|Ship notes=}}
|}

'''HMAS ''Kuttabul''''', formerly ''SS Kuttabul'', was a [[Royal Australian Navy]] [[depot ship]], converted from a [[Sydney Ferries Limited]] ferry.

''Kuttabul'' and her identical sistership, ''[[HMAS Koompartoo|Koompartoo]]'', were the largest and last [[Sydney K-class ferry|K-class ferries]] built. ''Kuttabul'' had the highest passenger carrying capacity of any ferry on Sydney Harbour and was ordered for the crowded [[Milsons Point, New South Wales|Milsons Point]] to [[Circular Quay]] route.

During the Japanese midget submarine [[attack on Sydney Harbour]] on 31 May 1942, ''Kuttabul'' was sunk, with 21 naval personnel aboard.

==Design and construction==
[[File:Kuttabul being fitted out 1922.jpg|thumb|left|''Kuttabul'' being fitted out at [[Walsh Island Dockyard and Engineering Works]], 1922]]

To service the booming population growth on the North Shore prior to the construction of a bridge connection, [[Sydney Ferries Limited]] ordered the largest, and what would be the last, "[[Sydney K-class ferries|K-class]]" ferries. They were ''Kuttabul'' and ''[[HMAS Koompartoo|Koompartoo]]'', steam-powered ferries, built in 1922 by the [[Walsh Island Dockyard and Engineering Works]] in [[Newcastle, New South Wales|Newcastle]]. Similar in size to Manly ferries, they were rated at 448 gross and 201 net register tons (1269 and 569 m³), and were {{convert|183|ft|m}} long, with a beam of {{convert|36|ft|m}}. They were the largest ferries ever operated on the inner harbour ferry routes, though ''Kuttabul'' had a larger passenger capacity (2,250) than ''Koompartoo'' (2,089). Their passenger capacity was the largest ever of any ferry on Sydney Harbour, exceeding even the largest Manly ferries by 500 passengers, a record that has not been beaten by any subsequent ferry.

Both ferries were of steel construction with a wooden superstructure.<ref>{{cite book|last=Prescott|first=Anthony|title=Sydney Ferry Fleets|publisher=Ronald H Parsons|year=1984|isbn=0-909418-30-6}}</ref> Both vessels were constructed with 18 watertight compartments, regarded as being unsinkable and therefore were not required to carry life-saving equipment.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16019895?searchTerm=kuttabul&searchLimits=| title=''The Kuttabul. New Ferry Steamer.''| work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=August 1922| access-date=1 May 2012}}</ref><ref name=FerriesofSydney>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160227125444/http://ferriesofsydney.com/kuttabul.html SS Kuttabul] Ferries of Sydney</ref>

==Sydney Ferries==
[[File:Kuttabul ferry.jpg|thumb|''Kuttabul'' as a [[Sydney Ferries Limited]] [[Sydney K-class ferry|K-class steamer]]|left]]

''Kuttabul'' and ''Koompartoo'' had been ordered specifically for the short heavy lift commuter link across the harbour between [[Circular Quay]] and [[Milsons Point]], a route that was approximately aligned with the location of the pending [[Sydney Harbour Bridge]]. Prior to the opening of the bridge, peak hour ferries were leaving either side of the harbour at the rate of one fully loaded vessel every six minutes.  Supporting the large steel hulled twins, were usually the timber "K-class" ''[[Kuramia]]'' (1914), ''Kai Kai'', and ''Kulgoa''.<ref name="Andrews 1994">{{cite book |last1=Andrews |first1=Graeme |title=Ferries of Sydney |date=1994 |publisher=Oxford University Press / Sydney University Press |location=Sydney |isbn=0-424-00202-7 |pages=87–89 |edition=Third}}</ref>

With the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932, the route became redundant. ''Kuttabul'' and ''Koompartoo'' were considered too big to be used on other routes and were laid up, but were later made available for tourist cruises on the harbour.<ref name=FerriesofSydney/><ref name=Jenkins215>Jenkins, ''Battle Surface'', p. 215</ref><ref>''Gregory's Street Directory of Sydney & Suburbs'', p. 214</ref> The Milsons Point wharf used by these ferries is now part of [[Luna Park Sydney|Luna Park]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Andrews |first1=Graeme |year=1975 |title=The Ferries of Sydney |publisher=A.H. & A.W. Reed |isbn=0589071726 }}</ref>

==Royal Australian Navy and sinking==
[[Image:Kuttabul (AWM 042975).jpg|thumb|''Kuttabul'' after sinking]]

After the outbreak of [[World War II]], ''Kuttabul'' was requisitioned by the [[Royal Australian Navy]] on 7 November 1940, and moored at the [[Garden Island, New South Wales|Garden Island naval base]] to provide accommodation for Allied naval personnel while they awaited transfer to their ships.<ref name=RAN>[http://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-kuttabul HMAS Kuttabul] Royal Australian Navy</ref><ref name="Jenkins215"/>

On the night of 31 May/1 June 1942, three [[Ko-hyoteki class submarine|''Ko-hyoteki'' class midget submarine]]s of the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] entered Sydney Harbour with the intention of [[Attack on Sydney Harbour|attacking Allied warships]]. According to the official account, only one of the submarines, designated ''M-24'', was able to fire her torpedoes, but both missed their intended target: the heavy cruiser {{USS|Chicago|CA-29|6}}.<ref name=Jenkins215/> The torpedoes, fired around 00:30, continued on to Garden Island: one ran aground harmlessly, but the other hit the breakwater against which ''Kuttabul'' and the Dutch submarine [[HMAS K9|''K-IX'']] were moored.<ref>Jenkins, ''Battle Surface'', pp. 213–5</ref><ref name=Grose139>Grose, ''A Very Rude Awakening'', p. 139</ref>

The attack killed 19 [[Royal Australian Navy]] and two [[Royal Navy]] sailors asleep aboard the ferry, and wounded another 10.<ref name=Elbourne>Elbourne, ''Wonderful Kuttabul''</ref> It took several days for the bodies of the dead sailors to be recovered, with a burial ceremony held on 3 June.<ref name=Carruthers151>Carruthers, ''Japanese Submarine Raiders 1942'', p. 151</ref> One of the ferry's wheelhouses was salvaged and used as a naval police guardhouse at the Garden Island naval base;{{citation needed|date=November 2011}} the base was commissioned on 1 January 1943 as the [[stone frigate]] {{HMAS|Kuttabul|naval base|6}} in commemoration of the ferry and the lives lost.<ref name=Elbourne/> The wheelhouse later came into the possession of the [[Australian War Memorial]], and is on display alongside a composite submarine built from the wreckage of two of the Japanese midget submarines.<ref name=Grose253-5>Grose, ''A Very Rude Awakening'', pp. 253–5</ref>

==Chronological gallery==
<gallery>
File:Sydney ferry KUTTABUL.jpg|In her original as-built livery of varnished timber, grey hull, black funnel, and white trim
File:SLNSW 20822 2UW harbour cruise on Kuttabul.jpg|As an excursion boat in 1937 following her 1932 removal from regular ferry service
File:Sydney Ferry KUTTABUL built 1922.jpg|In her new post-Sydney Harbour Bridge colours, 1930s

</gallery>

==See also==
* [[List of Sydney Harbour ferries]]
* [[Timeline of Sydney Harbour ferries]]

==Citations==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book |last=Carruthers |first=Steven |title=Japanese Submarine Raiders 1942: A maritime mystery |orig-year=1982 |edition=Revised |year=2006 |publisher=Casper Publications |location=Narrabeen |isbn=0-9775063-0-4}}
*{{cite news |last=Elbourne |first=Sean |title=Wonderful Kuttabul – a long history of service |url=http://www.navy.gov.au/w/images/Sea_Talk_2006-winter.pdf |work=Sea Talk (Winter 2006) |publisher=Royal Australian Navy |pages=11–19 |date=Winter 2006 |access-date=7 September 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091019113436/http://www.navy.gov.au/w/images/Sea_Talk_2006-winter.pdf |archive-date=19 October 2009 |df=dmy-all }}
*{{cite book |title=Gregory's Street Directory of Sydney & Suburbs |orig-year=1934 |edition=1st (reprint) |year=2006}}
*{{cite book |last=Grose |first=Peter |title=A Very Rude Awakening |year=2007 |publisher= Allen & Unwin |location=Crows Nest |isbn=978-1-74175-219-9}}
*{{cite book |last=Jenkins |first=David |title=Battle Surface! Japan's Submarine War Against Australia 1942–44 |year=1992 |publisher=Random House Australia |location=Milsons Point |isbn=0-09-182638-1}}

==External links==
*{{commons category-inline|Kuttabul (ship, 1922)|'''''Kuttabul'''''}}

{{Sydneyferries}}
{{June 1942 shipwrecks}}
{{Navbox shipwrecks of New South Wales}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuttabul}}
[[Category:Auxiliary ships of the Royal Australian Navy]]
[[Category:Ferries of New South Wales]]
[[Category:Ferry transport in Sydney|Kuttabul]]
[[Category:Iron and steel steamships of Australia]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in June 1942]]
[[Category:Ships built in New South Wales]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by Japanese submarines]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the Sydney Eastern Suburbs Region]]
[[Category:1922 ships]]
[[Category:1942 in Australia]]
[[Category:Sydney K-class ferries]]