Thread: For the Mil enthusiasts. Navy Cerberus

I have to agree with Bob and Gary, I served on Melbourne and Stalwart.
They were glass hulls and upperworks, made at Codock.

Melbourne's single 36 footer used as officer's leave boats "from memory that was the length" had a pair of derated 6V71's. We simple lower deckmen had to make do with the old clinker timber whalers with a Dorman 4 cyl diesel. She also carried the open 33 footer, which had a pair of Perkins P6M\T's rated at about 120HP each

Stalwart carried 2 at 36 foot and 2 at 40 foot, the larger ones had a pair of 8V71's. These larger versions were used for longer duration "survey" trips.

Very fine seagoing boats IF you can get hold of one.
I don't ever recall one being at Cerberus, the only "glass" boat I remember was the Bertram Flybridge cruiser used by the Naval Police, V8 Cat powered heap of junk.

Originally Posted by shorty943

We simple lower deckmen had to make do with the old clinker timber whalers with a Dorman 4 cyl diesel. .

And what a great sea boat they were.! One of my first jobs when I left RANATE was stoker on one of those sea boats, hunched down next to the engine, listening for the signals from the Coxswain, relayed by whistle , can't remember exactly what the signals meant, one ,two, or three blasts from a rugby whistle, to say ahead, astern, or stop. those clinker built boats were the the direct descendants from Captain Bligh's whaler that he sailed from the mutiny to Batavia. Bob

Originally Posted by shorty943

I don't ever recall one being at Cerberus, the only "glass" boat I remember was the Bertram Flybridge cruiser used by the Naval Police, V8 Cat powered heap of junk.

All shore side establishments (outside Sydney Harbour) had the 26ft and 33ft boats - as well as some of the old 40 ft workboats. Cerberus certainly had them (the XO ran one aground in Hanns Inlet in the late 70s).

The Bertram was banned from going out Sydney Harbour (but did a few times if escorted) as it was too unstable. I still shudder when I see a Bertram on a fishing show being used at sea on a fishing charter.

To my untrained eye it seems to be a fibreglass hull.

There are other timber boats on the river that are obviously timber.

I guess it could be glass over timber but as some have suggested , my guess would be fibreglass.

I guess it is not necessarily an Admiral's barge as the top deck set up is different.

It certainly appears to have 2 huge engine cowls above the deck.

I will see if I can get some more photos of the rear deck section.

I am conscious of not prying too much.

Originally Posted by land864

To my untrained eye it seems to be a fibreglass hull.

I guess it could be glass over timber but as some have suggested , my guess would be fibreglass.

I guess it is not necessarily an Admiral's barge as the top deck set up is different.

It certainly appears to have 2 huge engine cowls above the deck.

I have driven these type of boats plenty of times - both in harbour and at sea. They are fibreglass.

There are three versions of the basic design - all have the same hull. The one you have found has a cabin covering about half the length with engines under covers at the rear.

The next version is called a seaboat and was used for rescues at sea. It is completely open, having no cabin at all - again engines are at the rear under covers.

The last are the Admiral's barges - same basic hull but a different cabin - front cabin basically as per the first version but either timber or timber covered. In addition there there is an aft cabin and sitting area. These boats are painted dark blue for the Fleet Commander. I seem to recall the equivalent boat for the old Navy Support Commander was dark green but it was a long time ago.

On the boat you have spotted - the hull will be Navy ship side grey (actually a very light green but looks grey from any distance). The cabin will be white. On the side of the cabin in a rectangular box/fitting will be the Cerberus under glass/perspex - indicating the boat belonged to Cerberus. Boat attached to ships generally would not have this but would have the ships pennant number painted on the side.

There were a lot of these boats in service in the 70s so are not all that rare - however now may be a different issue.

Garry

Fantastic Garry.

Many thanks for sharing your experiences and your knowledge of boats like this old girl

If there is water in the front cabin section , I have a question.

How would that make it's way in through the hull?

Then again , I know there have been huge rains up here and if the auto bilge pumps were off line or the batteries flat, that water could be rain run off.

Was the main structural frame timber or something else Garry.

Also , most of the deck seems to have rotted away. Was that a marine ply?

Finally , you think it may actually been from Cerberus down in Vic Garry




Pete

I cannot answer questions on specific construction - I was a driver not a maintainer - water would most likely be rain, noting the rear is open or a leaking stern tube or corroded cooling pipes - anything really.

If it has Cerberus on the side of the cabin then it was at Cerberus, at least later in its Navy life.

Here is a pic from Creswell - the boat in the front is a 40ft AWB workboat (drove it), the boat to the right is a 26ft Utility boat (drove it - terrible things - one engine, lots of torque steer and poor rudder at slow speed) - behind is a 33ft Fast Utility Boat like the one you have spotted (drove it too - nice drive).



Garry