Fremantle Harbour - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Fremantle Harbour is Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

's largest and busiest general cargo port and an important historical site. The inner harbour handles a large volume of sea containers, vehicle imports and livestock

Livestock

Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...

exports, cruise ship

Cruise ship

A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...

ping and naval visits, and operates 24 hours a day.

The harbour is also referred to as the Inner Harbour and is managed by Fremantle Ports, a government

Government of Western Australia

The formation of the Government of Western Australia is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1890, although it has been amended many times since then...

trading enterprise. The authority also manages the Outer Harbour, 20 km south at Kwinana

Kwinana, Western Australia

The Town of Kwinana is a Local Government Area of Western Australia. It covers an area of approximately 118 square kilometres in metropolitan Perth, and lies about 38 km south of Perth's central business district, via the Kwinana Freeway...

in Cockburn Sound

Cockburn Sound

Cockburn Sound is an inlet of the Indian Ocean on the coast of Western Australia. It extends from the south of the mouth of the Swan River at Fremantle for about 25 km to Cape Peron near Rockingham and is located at...

which handles bulk cargo ports, grain, petroleum, liquefied petroleum gas, alumina, mineral sands, fertilisers, sulphur and other bulk commodities. Fremantle Ports was previously known as Fremantle Port Authority.

History

Fremantle

Fremantle, Western Australia

Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...

's port role began immediately the Swan River Colony

Swan River Colony

The Swan River Colony was a British settlement established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. The name was a pars pro toto for Western Australia. In 1832, the colony was officially renamed Western Australia, when the colony's founding Lieutenant-Governor, Captain James Stirling,...

was founded in 1829, but the entrance to the Swan River

Swan River (Western Australia)

The Swan River estuary flows through the city of Perth, in the south west of Western Australia. Its lower reaches are relatively wide and deep, with few constrictions, while the upper reaches are usually quite narrow and shallow....

estuary was blocked by a rocky bar, which made the mouth of the river virtually impassable for sea-going vessels.
The first steamship to enter the port was H.M.S. Driver on 4 December 1845.
Fremantle shipping was served by the Long Jetty that extended into the open sea, where Bather's Beach is today. Cargo was offloaded onto the jetty and then taken down Cliff Street in Fremantle's West End. It was loaded onto barge

Barge

A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats...

s that sailed up the river on the westerly sea breeze

Sea breeze

A sea-breeze is a wind from the sea that develops over land near coasts. It is formed by increasing temperature differences between the land and water; these create a pressure minimum over the land due to its relative warmth, and forces higher pressure, cooler air from the sea to move inland...

and back to Fremantle on easterly winds. Later it was transported by rail. Sailor

Sailor

A sailor, mariner, or seaman is a person who navigates water-borne vessels or assists in their operation, maintenance, or service. The term can apply to professional mariners, military personnel, and recreational sailors as well as a plethora of other uses...

s disliked the Long Jetty: in 1892 Captain D.B. Shaw of the Saranac described it as "terrible":

"... entered and fought against putting the vessel alongside jetty to discharge. It is a terrible place. No place to put a vessel. No shelter whatever. All the ships have to lay and discharge at the wharf or pay lighterage.... It is blowing a gale from the SW ... and takes all our time to hold her.... She had done considerable damage to herself.... It is certainly the worst place I or anyone else ever saw. No place to send a ship of this size.... Any man who would come or send a ship a second time is a damned ass."

Other alternatives

British marine engineer Sir John Coode advised Sir John Forrest an outer harbour near Rous Head, or one that would stretch south from Arthur's Head, could be built. Coode ruled out building a port in the river mouth as he believed it would continually silt up due to lateral sand drift.
In 1887 the Fremantle Chamber of Commerce

Chamber of commerce

A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...

pushed hard for the southern scheme to be chosen, but the Colony could not raise the half-million pounds which were estimated what such an initiative would cost.
By 1891 Forrest was examining another proposal: an offshore facility at Owen Anchorage south of Fremantle.
But by then Charles Yelverton O'Connor had been appointed the Colony's Engineer

Engineer

An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...

-in-Chief, and decided the best option was an inner harbour built in the mouth of the Swan River.
The discovery of gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

in Western Australia meant a working port was urgently needed, Parliament finally accepted O'Connor's plan after much political haggling, the capital was raised in London and preliminary work commenced late in 1892.

Harbour development

The first stage of the harbour works began with a ceremony in which the Governor's wife, Lady Robinson, tilted the first truck load of rubble

Rubble

Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture. This word is closely connected in derivation with "rubbish", which was formerly also applied to what we now call "rubble". Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as brash...

for the North Mole.
Blasting and dredging the rocky bar created a channel, dredging deepened the river basin, and two moles were built to protect the harbour entrance. Land was reclaimed so quays and warehouse

Warehouse

A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and unload...

s could be built. The inner harbour was opened on 4 May 1897 when the steamer Sultan with Lady Forrest at the wheel was the first ship to enter the partly built port.

"While the harbour has been deepened, and facilities extended and modernised over the years, the basic structure of the Inner Harbour remains essentially unchanged to this day, testament to the boldness, brilliance and foresight of its designer."

now the port is dregding the harbour again to make it even deeper

Mail packets

As the port neared completion, Forrest lobbied the British to have Fremantle as the port of call for the Mail Packets. Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

and New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

fought for the retention of Albany

Albany, Western Australia

Albany is a port city in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, some 418 km SE of Perth, the state capital. As of 2009, Albany's population was estimated at 33,600, making it the 6th-largest city in the state....

as the Mail Packet port, as they were fearful they would lose business. Forrest threatened Western Australia may stay out of the proposed federation

Federation

A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...

of Australian colonies unless they agreed.
On 3 August 1900, Forrest won when the Postmaster-General in London informed the Post Master-General in Perth that Fremantle would be substituted for Albany as the port of call for Mail Packets.
Ten days later the Orient Company's RMS Ormuz, homeward bound from Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

to London, was the first British mail carrier to enter and berth in Fremantle harbour. In 1901 Fremantle surpassed Albany for the first time in total tonnage

Tonnage

Tonnage is a measure of the size or cargo carrying capacity of a ship. The term derives from the taxation paid on tuns or casks of wine, and was later used in reference to the weight of a ship's cargo; however, in modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically refers to a calculation of the volume...

of ships and the following year in the number of ships when it cleared 410 ships (1,045,170 tons) to Albany's 248 ships (540,910 tons).

Waterfront violence

During a waterside clash between police

Police

The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...

and workers on Bloody Sunday, 4 May 1919, lumper

Lumper

Lumper may refer to:* Gottfried Lumper , German Benedictine patristic writer* Lumper , an individual who takes a gestalt view of a definition...

Tom Edwards was struck on the head with a police baton. He died three days later, leaving a wife and three children.. A memorial fountain by Pietro Porcelli was erected in Edwards' memory that year, and was moved to Fremantle's Kings Square in 1968.

Signal station

In 1928 the Signal Station at Fremantle was moved from Arthur Head to a site on Cantonment Hill

Cantonment Hill, Fremantle

Cantonment Hill is a small rise overlooking the port city of Fremantle, Western Australia. Since the early 1900s the hill and the surrounding precinct has been mainly used for military purposes with extensive buildings now present...

. This building was replaced in 1956 by a new structure, whose functions were superseded in 1964 by the opening of a signal station on the new Port Authority administration building, which was opened by Premier David Brand

David Brand

Sir David Brand KCMG was the 19th and longest serving Premier of Western Australia and a Member of the Legislative Assembly from 1945 to 1975.-Early life:...

on 5 March.

Wartime role

During World War II, the harbour accommodated scores of Allied naval vessels on active service. Battleships, troop transports, hospital ships and support vessels, including many passenger ship

Passenger ship

A passenger ship is a ship whose primary function is to carry passengers. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freighters once common on the seas in which the transport of passengers is...

s, were seconded into the war effort.
Visitors to Fremantle during the conflict were passenger liners and converted troop carriers RMS Queen Elizabeth

RMS Queen Elizabeth

RMS Queen Elizabeth was an ocean liner operated by the Cunard Line. Plying with her running mate Queen Mary as a luxury liner between Southampton, UK and New York City, USA via Cherbourg, France, she was also contracted for over twenty years to carry the Royal Mail as the second half of the two...

and RMS Queen Mary

RMS Queen Mary

RMS Queen Mary is a retired ocean liner that sailed primarily in the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard Line...

. Because of their size neither was able to take up an inner harbour berth, and instead anchored in Gage Roads

Gage Roads

Gage Roads, is the sea channel in the Indian Ocean offshore from Perth, Western Australia. It was the location of the America's Cup defence in 1986/7, and serves as a shipping lane and anchorage for most sea traffic heading towards the seaport of Fremantle....

. Other well-known ships to visit included the RMS Strathaird

RMS Strathaird

RMS, later SS, Strathaird was the second of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company Strath class ocean liners. She was built at Vickers-Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness, then in Lancashire, and launched on 18 July 1931...

, RMS Strathnaver

RMS Strathnaver

RMS, later SS, Strathnaver was a Royal Mail Ship and ocean liner operated by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company and launched in 1931. Strathnaver was the first of a series of Strath class ocean liners built in the 1930s by the Vickers-Armstrong shipyard, in Barrow-in-Furness, then...

, RMS Orion

RMS Orion

RMS Orion was an ocean liner launched by the Orient Steam Navigation Company in 1934 and retired from the water in 1963 after carrying about 500,000 passengers...

and RMS Otranto.
In 1940 boom defences were installed in the harbour as a security measure and anti-aircraft installations were built.
After the fall of Singapore in March 1942, many ships sought refuge at Fremantle: at times 30 were at anchor in Gage Roads.

"In the inner harbour, it was ... a common sight to see up to as many as four vessels of substantial size lying in tier, and it was due solely to the circumstances forced upon the port and the prevailing weather conditions that such a state of affairs could be permitted. Altogether, some 75 vessels were using the inner and outer harbours at one and the same time, and in the fortnight ending 20th March, a total of 103 vessels, Naval and merchant, and mainly seeking refuge, arrived at the port. Until these vessels could be ordered to some other destination, acute conditions persisted at the port for some weeks."

Fremantle Submarine Base was the largest submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

base in the southern hemisphere during World War II. The first United States submarines arrived at Fremantle

Allied submarines in the Pacific War

Allied submarines were used extensively during the Pacific War and were a key contributor to the defeat of the Empire of Japan. During the war, submarines of the United States Navy were responsible for 55% of Japan's merchant marine losses; other Allied navies added to the toll. The war against...

in 1942, the US Navy built a submarine repair facility on North Quay the next year, and until 1945 the port accommodated more than 170 submarines from the U.S., British and Dutch navies. The slipway on the south side of the entrance to the harbour where the new Maritime Museum is now located was also an important part of the wartime role of the harbour.

C. Y. O'Connor statue

A statue

Statue

A statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, an idea or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger...

honouring C. Y. O'Connor

C. Y. O'Connor

Charles Yelverton O'Connor CMG was an Irish engineer who is best-known for his work in Australia, especially the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme.-Early life:...

was erected on Victoria Quay on 23 June 1911. It now stands near the entrance to the Fremantle Ports administration building on Cliff Street.

Passenger Terminal

The Fremantle Passenger Terminal was constructed in time for the Empire (Commonwealth) Games in 1962.