The composite vessel* PS Gem was a double-ended paddle steamer built in Melbourne in 1868 for the ferry service between Port Melbourne and Williamstown.
* (Hardwood and NZ kauri.)
(Both of those photos come from Nathan Richards' two theses - "THE HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE GARDEN ISLAND SHIPS’ GRAVEYARD, NORTH ARM OF THE PORT ADELAIDE RIVER, PORT ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA" (1997) and "Deep Structures: An Examination of Deliberate Watercraft Abandonment in Australia" (2002).)
The 145-gross ton vessel was equipped with oscillating
engines and measured 129.4 feet in length, 17.8 feet breadth and 8.4 feet depth.
In 1906, the Gem ended its ferrying days and was moored in the old
course of the Yarra River where its engines were used for pumping silt from
hopper barges into a reclamation area at Hobson’s Bay. It was towed to Port
Adelaide in 1911, and a centrifugal pump was installed to remove silt from
hopper barges as fill for the new No.2 Dock being built in Port Adelaide.
After the building of No.2 Dock, the Gem’s engines,
wheelhouse and paddles were all removed, the funnels cut down and the hull was
used as a pontoon bridge. The Gem then became a floating footbridge when
a gangway was built across the superstructure and the vessel was moored across
the entrance to the new dock. It now served as a floating footbridge for
workers: -
(Both of those photos come from Nathan Richards' 1997 thesis "THE HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE GARDEN ISLAND SHIPS’ GRAVEYARD, NORTH ARM OF THE PORT ADELAIDE RIVER, PORT ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA".)
In 1927, when the dock had been deepened and widened, the Gem
was removed and laid up at the Glanville Dockyard. It was later towed to the
Garden island Ships’ Graveyard in the North Arm of the Port River and broken up
for firewood.
(Both of those photos come from Nathan Richards' 1997 thesis "THE HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE GARDEN ISLAND SHIPS’ GRAVEYARD, NORTH ARM OF THE PORT ADELAIDE RIVER, PORT ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA".)
I am hoping that these photos of mine show the Gem in late 2025 (but that seems unlikely): -
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