Binngarra

Bingarra crossing the Sydney Heads on her way from Manly to Circular Quay

Her design by Andrew Christie of Mort's Dock and Engineering was an evolution of the Kuring Gai, however in contrast, her wheel houses were moved to the ends of the sun deck. Her design was the basic form of the Manly ferries that served for most of the 20th century until the introduction of the Freshwater class in the early 1980s.

Her triple expansion steam engines were built by Mort's Dock and Engineering, and had cylinders 17.5 inches (44 cm), 27.5 inches (70 cm), and 45 inches (110 cm) respectively in diameter, with a stroke of 27 inches (690 mm), and steam reversing gear. Steam was generated by two Navy type boilers each 10 feet 8 inches (3.25 m) in diameter and 18 feet 6 inches (5.64 m) long, with corrugated furnaces of 4 feet 4.5 inches (1.334 m) in diameter, which were tested for a working pressure of 160 pounds per square inch (1,100 kPa). A donkey boiler also fitted.

Binngarra crosses the Sydney Heads in a heavy swell

Binngarra had her official trials on 26 October 1905 where she reached 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) and she entered service three days later on the 3 pm run from Circular Quay to Manly. Two days after she collided with the sea wall at the Quay.

In 1926, she collided with the wooden K-class ferry, Kanimbla. Damage to the larger steel Binngarra was minimal, however, Kanimbla was severely damaged and according to some reports, was lucky not to sink.

It is estimated that over her 24 years of ferry service, Binngarra completed close to 100,000 round trips to Manly and carried 30 million passengers. She and Kuring-gai were removed from service in 1930 and 1928 respectively, following the 1928 introduction of the larger and faster Dee Why and Curl Curl.[1] Binngarra was sold and hulked in 1933 and used in Port Stephens. Following her use in New Guinea as a cargo hulk for United States Navy during World War II, she was scuttled off Sydney in 1946.

• 
  Binngarra being launched, with her forerunner, Kuring-gai, on the left, 18 July 1905
• 
  Approaching Circular Quay, 1920s
• 
  Crossing Sydney Heads
• 
  Binngarra at Circular Quay with one other Binngarra-class ferry and three K-class ferries, circa 1930

• List of Sydney Harbour ferries

• Andrews, Graeme (1975). The Ferries of Sydney. A.H. & A.W. Reed Pty Ltd. ISBN 0589071726.
• Andrews, Graeme (1982). A Pictorial History of Ferries: Sydney and Surrounding Waterways. Sydney: AH & AW Reed Pty Ltd. ISBN 0589503863.
• Gunter, John (1978). Across the harbour : the story of Sydney's ferries. Rigby. ISBN 0727007157.
• Prescott, AM (1984). Sydney Ferry Fleet. Magill South Australia: Ronald H Parsons. ISBN 0909418306.

• Media related to Binngarra at Wikimedia Commons