Launch of the Kennedy.

Rare colonial engraving of the launch of the Australian built steamer, Kennedy.

The “Kennedy” was built in Sydney, Australia in 1865, as a three masted schooner-rig steamer. In 1905 the ‘Kennedy’ was converted from a single to a two-hatch vessel and the passenger accommodation removed. She sailed between Lyttelton, Wellington and Foxton and carried coal, cattle and general cargo for 64 years.

We attach the greatest importance to the Kennedy because her construction is proof that the time has arrived when colonial enterprise follows so fast on the discoveries of the old world that any improvements deemed likely to be beneficial are adopted and carried out without waiting to be informed that we are behind the age. The principle of twin or double screws, as a propelling power, has been for a number of years considered as useless by some thought entirely worthless. About fourteen years ago, an American mechanic suggested the combination of screws and paddles and, assisted by a number of capitalists, he constructed a vessel propelled by two screws and a pair of paddles; but the scheme turned out a failure. Messrs. Dudgeon and Co. of London appear to have been the first persons to give practical proof of the value of the principle, and accordingly, about three years ago, we heard of vessels propelled in this manner easily beating the fastest paddle-wheel mail boats on the coast of England, while more recently, the fastest blockade-runners are double-screw boats. Independently of their speed, these vessels have another, and, in many cases, a more important, superiority over other steam-propelled vessels – they turn almost on their own centre, the screws acting as rudders. This is a great advantage in vessels designed for the navigation of tortuous rivers.

The Kennedy is the first vessel in the colonies to which the double screw has been adapted. She is a handsomely modelled craft, built entirely of iron, at the A.S.N. Co.’s works, Pyrmont, under the superintendence of Mr. McArthur, the builder of the Leichardt and Pioneer, and several other vessels. Her dimensions are, length, 135ft.; beam, 19 ft.; depth of hold, 7 ft. 3 in.; length of quarter-deck, 35 ft. There will be accommodation in the saloon for twelve gentlemen and six ladies, with good steerage accommodation for about twenty. Her gross tonnage is 240 tons, and the screws will be driven by inverted direct-acting engines of four cylinders, the combined power of which reaches about forty horsepower, nominal.

The keel of the Kennedy was laid on the 8th November 1864, and on the 24th January, she was launched in the presence of a large number of spectators. The christening ceremony having been performed by Miss McArthur, the vessel took the water in fine style, and, as soon as her impetus was checked, she was towed round to the Darling Harbour to receive her machinery, after which she will be dispatched to Queensland, being intended for the northern river trade. 

From the original edition of the Illustrated Sydney News.

Collections:
National Library Australia: Bib ID 440095
State Library New South Wales: F8/39-40
State Library Victoria: CINF SLVIC=1853-1872-RARENSL N.S.W.