 As a steamer as built
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name | Lady Edeline |
| Operator | Balmain New Ferry Company, Sydney Ferries Limited, Sydney Harbour Transport Board, Public Transport Commission, Urban Transit Authority |
| Builder | G A Washington of Balmain |
| Launched | 1913 |
| Out of service | laid up 1984/5 |
| Fate | Sunk 1988 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | 96 tons |
| Length | 33.7 m |
| Propulsion | Steam (1914-1937), Diesel (from 1937) |
| Speed | 11 knots as built, 9 knots as diesel |
| Capacity | 544 |
Lady Edeline was a Sydney Harbour ferry built in 1913 for the Balmain New Ferry Company. She and four similar ferries, Lady Chelmsford (1910), Lady Denman (1912), Lady Ferguson (1914), Lady Scott (1914) were a new series of "Lady-class", designed by renowned naval architect, Walter Reeks.[peacock prose]
Lady Edeline and her four sisters survived the 1932 opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and were converted to diesel power that decade. They also survived the 1951 NSW State Government takeover of the ailing ferry fleet. She was taken out of service in 1984 following the sinking of fellow old wooden ferry, Karrabee earlier that year. She was laid up on the Parramatta River where she settled into the mud in 1988 and was broken up. Lady Edeline was the longest serving of the five sisters, and the last wooden ferry run by the government service.
Continuing a Balmain Ferry Co convention of naming their ferries after the wives of Governors-General of Australia and Governors of NSW, Lady Edeline was named after Lady Edeline Strickland, wife of New South Wales governor, Sir Gerald Strickland. This naming nomenclature was again used by the State Government harbour ferry operator with the introduction of 6 new "Lady-class ferries" in the 1960s and 1970s.