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PhoenixStar said..
One used to be the ferry to Heron Island.

And Boyce had a HDV, similar, for years. Iron fastened, not meant to last long.

That particular boat was the Susan owned by Bob Poulsen of the Poulsen family that owned the lease on Heron Island which they sold to P&O.

He hunted all over Australia for that particular vessel because it was the first one rebuilt by a certain boat builder and won him the contract to rebuild the rest of them. She was retro fitted with V12 GM (Detroit) diesels, could achieve around 29 knots and I have seen the photo of Darby Munroe water skiing behind it. The Susan retained the original super structure and looked great. When Bob Poulsen died the Susan languished on a mooring in the Burnett River for some years until it was bought by somebody and taken elsewhere.

They were known as the 65 foot crash boats because of their use as SAR vessels for the RAAF.

Tourism in the Whitsunday Islands was built on the back of these boats and the 100 foot Fairmiles. There were two or three of the crash boats that operated out of Shute Harbour as day tour boats and Tom MacLean had up to 10 of the Fairmiles that he operated out of Mackay doing 5 day island cruises and fishing charters and were called the Roylen Cruisers. I worked on them as engineer for 6 months in 1975. The Vianne had to be pumped for 6 hours a day to keep her afloat.

The MacLean family also owned the lease on Brampton Island. Working on the tourist boats in the Whitsundays in the mid 70s was glory days. There was a continuous flow of gorgeous young women.

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Jolene said..

Ramona said..

HG02 said..
http://www.ptboats.org/20-01-05-ptboat-005.html


http://www.ptboats.org/20-01-05-ptboat-005.html

Packard engines, same as used in the P51's and other aircraft. Not sure whether the Australian ones had these or Merlins.

I don't think the PT boats ever used the (Packard/Merlin) aero engines . Just the name and the cylinder configuration is the same.

Just rounding this thread out. Was talking to my father the other day…he was in the RAAF for 27yrs (ground crew/armaments) followed by 10+yrs in Navy as a civilian…he remembers those rescue boats which operated in support of the air base at Williamtown(Newcastle NSW) and confirmed that they used Packard engines which were Rolls Royce Merlin engines (variants of the engines used in Spitfires, Hurricanes, P51 Mustangs and various WW2 bombers) made under licence in the USA. These were the Supercharged V12 aircraft engines of about 27Litre capacity and about 1400hp.
As an aside, he was called upon in the 80's to help with the display of 'G-for-George', the Lancaster bomber hanging in the War Memorial in Canberra, because he was one of the few people still in the forces who had first hand experience in the loading of bombs/ordinance on these bombers. Most people assume these wood and canvas marvels were all retired at the end of WW2, but a number still operated out of bases like Butterworth in Malaysia during the Communist insurgency in the 50's, which was where dad became familiar with them.
Cheers. Greg

I'm pretty sure you'll find that it is and old ex-WWII Fairmile - the Pommy equivalent of the Yank PT Boat. They had a couple of RR Merlins in them. There were a couple of them used as Rotto ferries when I was just a nipper. I was also a serving RAAFie at Pt Cook for a while where 1 of them was still in commission as a SAR boat.

The Packard Merlins were exactly as above - RR Merlins made under licence by Packard in the US. Amongst others, P51s and most Lancasters used the Packard Merlins. They were quite superior to the RR originals, as Packard knew how to keep the oil in them. I don't recall any Hurricanes or Spitties with Packards in them, but doesn't mean there weren't any. I was given to believe that the Fairmiles did have RR engines, not Packards.

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GKandCC said..

Jolene said..

Ramona said..

HG02 said..
http://www.ptboats.org/20-01-05-ptboat-005.html


http://www.ptboats.org/20-01-05-ptboat-005.html

Packard engines, same as used in the P51's and other aircraft. Not sure whether the Australian ones had these or Merlins.

I don't think the PT boats ever used the (Packard/Merlin) aero engines . Just the name and the cylinder configuration is the same.

Just rounding this thread out. Was talking to my father the other day…he was in the RAAF for 27yrs (ground crew/armaments) followed by 10+yrs in Navy as a civilian…he remembers those rescue boats which operated in support of the air base at Williamtown(Newcastle NSW) and confirmed that they used Packard engines which were Rolls Royce Merlin engines (variants of the engines used in Spitfires, Hurricanes, P51 Mustangs and various WW2 bombers) made under licence in the USA. These were the Supercharged V12 aircraft engines of about 27Litre capacity and about 1400hp.
As an aside, he was called upon in the 80's to help with the display of 'G-for-George', the Lancaster bomber hanging in the War Memorial in Canberra, because he was one of the few people still in the forces who had first hand experience in the loading of bombs/ordinance on these bombers. Most people assume these wood and canvas marvels were all retired at the end of WW2, but a number still operated out of bases like Butterworth in Malaysia during the Communist insurgency in the 50's, which was where dad became familiar with them.
Cheers. Greg

GKandCC said..

Jolene said..

Ramona said..

HG02 said..
http://www.ptboats.org/20-01-05-ptboat-005.html


http://www.ptboats.org/20-01-05-ptboat-005.html

Packard engines, same as used in the P51's and other aircraft. Not sure whether the Australian ones had these or Merlins.

I don't think the PT boats ever used the (Packard/Merlin) aero engines . Just the name and the cylinder configuration is the same.

Just rounding this thread out. Was talking to my father the other day…he was in the RAAF for 27yrs (ground crew/armaments) followed by 10+yrs in Navy as a civilian…he remembers those rescue boats which operated in support of the air base at Williamtown(Newcastle NSW) and confirmed that they used Packard engines which were Rolls Royce Merlin engines (variants of the engines used in Spitfires, Hurricanes, P51 Mustangs and various WW2 bombers) made under licence in the USA. These were the Supercharged V12 aircraft engines of about 27Litre capacity and about 1400hp.
As an aside, he was called upon in the 80's to help with the display of 'G-for-George', the Lancaster bomber hanging in the War Memorial in Canberra, because he was one of the few people still in the forces who had first hand experience in the loading of bombs/ordinance on these bombers. Most people assume these wood and canvas marvels were all retired at the end of WW2, but a number still operated out of bases like Butterworth in Malaysia during the Communist insurgency in the 50's, which was where dad became familiar with them.
Cheers. Greg

Yes Phoenix & Cisco,

As an 8 year old in the mid 1970's, I recall being ferried back from Heron Island on the Susan.
The boat that took us out to the Island was called 'Attunga'.
That's stretching the memory back about 40 years.

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chris340 said..

Yes Phoenix & Cisco,

As an 8 year old in the mid 1970's, I recall being ferried back from Heron Island on the Susan.
The boat that took us out to the Island was called 'Attunga'.
That's stretching the memory back about 40 years.

The Attunga was an ex Bass Strait oil rig personnel transfer boat. She had two V671 Detroit (GM) diesels in her which didn't push her along very fast. Maybe 18 knots tops.

The passenger space was in the hull with head level at main deck height. Even with aircraft seats in it she was not very comfortable on the Heron Island crossing and I shudder to think what she was like in Bass Strait. The hostess was kept busier with handing out sea sickness bags than with serving drinks and snacks.

I was engineer on her for a short while in 1975. We may have crossed paths way back then.

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NormanG said..
I'm pretty sure you'll find that it is and old ex-WWII Fairmile - the Pommy equivalent of the Yank PT Boat. They had a couple of RR Merlins in them. There were a couple of them used as Rotto ferries when I was just a nipper. I was also a serving RAAFie at Pt Cook for a while where 1 of them was still in commission as a SAR boat.

The Packard Merlins were exactly as above - RR Merlins made under licence by Packard in the US. Amongst others, P51s and most Lancasters used the Packard Merlins. They were quite superior to the RR originals, as Packard knew how to keep the oil in them. I don't recall any Hurricanes or Spitties with Packards in them, but doesn't mean there weren't any. I was given to believe that the Fairmiles did have RR engines, not Packards.

The boat at the start of the thread is not a Fairmile. It is one of the 65 foot SAR "crash" boats. Not sure what the original engines were.

The Fairmiles were 100 footers and carried out a number of duties including inshore mine sweeping. The engines they had were the V12 Hall Scott Defender. Sounds sweet.



Interesting page here on the Fairmiles.

www.navy.gov.au/ml-814

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HG02 said..
twin V 12 petrol engines


the other half sorry no depth chargers

The 65 foot crash boats were quite distinctive with the fore deck sloping down I guess so they had better vision when up on the plane like this one.




Whatever engines they had in them they certainly got them going.