SS South Steyne is the world's largest operational steam ferry. For 36 years, a Manly ferry in 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...

, she is now a floating restaurant

Floating restaurant

A floating restaurant is a kind of vessel which is usually a type of steel barge used as a restaurant on water. For example, the Jumbo Palace at Aberdeen in Hong Kong is one such restaurant. Sometimes retired ships are given a second lease on life as floating restaurants. The former car ferry New...

 in Darling Harbour, New South Wales

Darling Harbour, New South Wales

Darling Harbour is a locality of the city centre of Sydney, Australia. It is a large recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on western outskirts of the Sydney central business district. The locality extends northwards from Chinatown, along both sides of Cockle Bay to King Street...

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History

SS South Steyne was built by Henry Robb

Henry Robb

Henry Robb, Limited, known colloquially as Robbs, was a British shipbuilding company based in Leith Docks on the east coast of Scotland. Robbs was notable for building small-to-medium sized vessels, particularly tugs and dredgers.-History:...

 in Leith, Scotland for the Port Jackson and Manly Steamship Company

Port Jackson and Manly Steamship Company

The once famous Port Jackson and Manly Steamship Company was a publicly listed company that operated the iconic Manly ferries in Sydney Australia in the late 19th and 20th Centuries...

. Launched on 1 April 1938, she set off on 7 July, to steam the 22,000 kilometres to Australia, where she arrived on 19 September.

She was withdrawn from service as a commuter ferry in 1974 when the government took up the option to purchase for only Baragoola

Baragoola

MV Baragoola is a preserved Manly ferry owned by the Baragoola Preservation Association Incorporated and currently statically moored at Balls Head, Waverton...

 and North Head. On 25 August 1974, a week after the last run, a fire broke out in the fan engine room and severely damaged that area and the promenade deckhouse above.

Restoration work began in 1987 at Rileys Hill Dry Dock near Ballina, New South Wales

Ballina, New South Wales

Ballina is a town on the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, Australia, and the seat of the Ballina Shire Local Government Area. It had a population of 16,477 in the 2006 Census.-Location:...

 and later in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

. She became a floating restaurant, first in Melbourne and then 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...

. After five years, she returned to Sydney as the 2000 Olympic Information Centre at Darling Harbour

Darling Harbour, New South Wales

Darling Harbour is a locality of the city centre of Sydney, Australia. It is a large recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on western outskirts of the Sydney central business district. The locality extends northwards from Chinatown, along both sides of Cockle Bay to King Street...

. She is once again a floating restaurant, next to Pyrmont Bridge

Pyrmont Bridge

The Pyrmont Bridge is a swing bridge over Cockle Bay in Darling Harbour in Sydney, Australia.-History and description:The first Pyrmont Bridge was opened on 17 March 1858, and was a wooden pile bridge with a iron centre swing span...

, offering panoramic waterfront views of the Sydney skyline.

Layout

South Steyne is a double-ended, double-screw steamship constructed to ocean-going standards. The hull is riveted steel, with a bar keel, 8 watertight bulkheads and a double bottom under the engine only. At 224' (70 metre) long she is the world's largest operational steam ferry. The steel superstructure rises to sun deck level, with teak decks and wheelhouses. One of her two funnels is a dummy, containing a water tank.

She is powered by a 3,250 IHP triple expansion steam engine, manufactured by Harland and Wolff

Harland and Wolff

Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries is a Northern Irish heavy industrial company, specialising in shipbuilding and offshore construction, located in Belfast, Northern Ireland....

 of Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

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Service

SS South Steyne was the largest ferry to operate on Sydney Harbour. As the Manly ferry from 1938, she crossed between Circular Quay and Manly

Manly, New South Wales

Manly is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Manly is located 17 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the local government area of Manly Council, in the Northern Beaches region.-History:Manly was named...

 over 100,000 times over her 36 years, carrying well in excess of 92 million passengers. On Sundays, from 1953 until 1973, she gave short ocean cruises to Broken Bay

Broken Bay

Broken Bay is a large inlet of the Pacific Ocean located about 50 km north of Sydney on the coast of New South Wales, Australia, and is the first major bay north of Sydney's Port Jackson.- Geography :...

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