Kirrule-type ferry
class of ferry operating in Sydney Harbour
The Kirrule-type ferries (or Kubu-class) – Kiandra, Kirrule and Kubu – were three identical K-class ferries that operated on Sydney Harbour by Sydney Ferries Limited.
The three steam ferries were built in 1910, 1911 and 1912 at the height of the boom in ferry traffic across Sydney Harbour prior to the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. They were the second largest type of inner harbour vessels and built for the rapidly increasing North Shore demand.
Sydney Ferries Limited generally choose Australian Aboriginal names for the early twentieth "K-class" steamers. "Kiandra" is a corruption of Aboriginal 'Gianderra' for 'sharp stones for knives' and a town in NSW. Kirrule is thought to mean 'aroused', and 'Kubu' "oak tree".
Design and construction
When built, they were the most refined of the K-class ferries, and among the largest of the type. As with all Sydney ferries at the time, they were steamers but were not among those ferries later converted to diesel power. Like all K-class ferries to date, the boats were all timber-hulled with timber superstructures. Later K-class ferries - sisters Kanangra and Kirawa (1912) and sisters Koompartoo and Kuttabul (1922) - were steel hulled with timber decks and superstructures.
The Kirrule-type continued the K-class double-deck, double-ended screw propulsion, rounded bows with two raised wheelhouses and a single tall funnel.
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