HMAS Kuttabul was a Royal Australian Navy

Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...

 (RAN) depot ship

Depot ship

A depot ship is a ship which acts as a mobile or fixed base for other ships and submarines or supports a naval base. Depot ships may be specifically designed for their purpose or be converted from another purpose...

, and former Sydney harbour ferry

Sydney Ferries

Sydney Ferries is an agency of the New South Wales Government Department of Transport, providing ferry services on Sydney Harbour and the Parramatta River in Sydney, Australia....

. During the Japanese midget submarine attack on Sydney Harbour

Attack on Sydney Harbour

In late May and early June 1942, during World War II, submarines belonging to the Imperial Japanese Navy made a series of attacks on the cities of Sydney and Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia...

 on 31 May 1942, Kuttabul was torpedoed and sunk, with 21 Commonwealth naval personnel aboard.

Design and construction

Kuttabul originated as a steam-powered ferry, built in 1922 by the Newcastle State Dockyard in Newcastle, New South Wales

Newcastle, New South Wales

The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...

. Kuttabul was rated at 448 gross and 201 net tonnes (1269 and 569 m³), was 183 feet (55.8 m) long, with a beam of 36 metres (118.1 ft), and capable of seating approximately 2,250 passengers. Kuttabul and near sister ship Koompartoo were the largest ferries ever operated on the inner harbour ferry routes, however Koompartoo had a slightly larger passenger capacity and was built with a steel hull and wooden superstructure, instead of the all-wood Kuttabul.

Sydney Ferries

Kuttabul spent most of its life as a double-ended Sydney suburban ferry

Sydney Ferries

Sydney Ferries is an agency of the New South Wales Government Department of Transport, providing ferry services on Sydney Harbour and the Parramatta River in Sydney, Australia....

, carrying passengers across Sydney Harbour

Port Jackson

Port Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...

, linking the downtown ferry terminal at Circular Quay with various suburban ferry wharves, but especially the heavy route between the Quay and Milsons Point.

Made redundant by the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge

Sydney Harbour Bridge

The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district and the North Shore. The dramatic view of the bridge, the harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is an iconic...

 in 1932, Kuttabul anf Koompartoo were laid up, but were later made available for tourist cruises on the harbour.

RAN

After the outbreak of World War II, Kuttabul was requisitioned by the RAN, and moored at the Garden Island naval base

Garden Island, New South Wales

Garden Island is an inner-city locality of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located to the north-east of the Sydney central business district, north of the suburb of Potts Point....

 to provide accommodation for Allied naval personnel whle they awaited transfer to their ships.

On the night of 31 May-1 June 1942, three Ko-hyoteki class midget submarine

Ko-hyoteki class submarine

The class was a class of Japanese midget submarines used during World War II. They had hull numbers but no names. For simplicity, they are most often referred to by the hull number of the mother submarine...

s of the Imperial Japanese Navy

Imperial Japanese Navy

The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...

 entered Sydney Harbour with the intention of attacking Allied warships

Attack on Sydney Harbour

In late May and early June 1942, during World War II, submarines belonging to the Imperial Japanese Navy made a series of attacks on the cities of Sydney and Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia...

. Only one of the submarines, designated M-24, was able to fire her torpedoes, but both missed their intended target: the heavy cruiser . 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 K-IX

HMAS K9

HMAS K9 was a submarine that served with the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Royal Australian Navy.-Construction:...

 were moored. The explosion broke Kuttabul in two and sank her,

The attack killed 19 Royal Australian Navy

Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...

 and two Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 sailors asleep aboard the ferry, and wounded another 10. It took several days for the bodies of the dead sailors to be recovered, with a burial ceremony held on 3 June. One of the ferry's wheelhouses was salvaged and used as a naval police guardhouse at the Garden Island naval base; the base was commissioned on 1 January 1943 as the stone frigate

Stone frigate

Stone frigate is a nickname for a naval establishment on land. The term has its origin in Britain's Royal Navy after its use of Diamond Rock, off Martinique, as a 'sloop of war' to harass the French...

  in commemoration of the ferry and the lives lost. The wheelhouse later came into the possession of the Australian War Memorial

Australian War Memorial

The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of all its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in the wars of the Commonwealth of Australia...

, and is on display alongside a composite submarine built from the wreckage of two of the Japanese midget submarines.

External links

• Sydney Heritage Fleet. List of Ships and Other Vessels F to K. Retrieved 28 November 2005.