Rosny Street
by David F Radcliffe
Rosny Street runs between Barak Road and Howe Parade, at the eastern end of the Fishermans Bend Estate. Nearby Williamstown Road is a clue to the origin of this street’s name.
During the 1920s, the double-ended, steam powered Rosny ferried commuters between Port Melbourne and Williamstown. Built at Battery Point in Hobart for the Rosny Estates and Ferry Company, the Rosny was launched in July 1913.[i] Initially she was used on the Hobart to Lindisfarne route. When this proved uneconomic, the Rosny was sold to the Williamstown City Council for £14,000 which had borrowed money to operate the Hobson’s Bay Ferry Service.[ii] The Rosny, with a capacity of 600 passengers, commenced daily services in June 1920 taking ‘local factory girls, wharf labourers and artisans’ to and fro between Port and Willy.[iii] When conditions were favourable, she also ran moonlight excursions.
However, operating the Rosny was not economically sustainable, and after some consternation and debate, the Williamstown Council sold her in 1931 for just £1,630.[iv] A local wag made fun of the whole municipal affair in verse.[v]
The admiral of the council fleet is a dapper little chap,
Harry Harvey is his name, and he rather likes a scrap.
Jim Nelson and Jim Gray go up, in council and they moved
The fleet be sold in two months’ time; but Harry disapproved.
This motion, when put to the vote, was opposed by only two;
Harry was against it—as the loss was cut in two.
And now we have to say good-bye after many years of running;
But to sell the boat at this lean time will require all our cunning.
The Rosny returned to Tasmania, plying the Bellerive to Hobart run until 1963.
Although her years spent in Hobsons Bay were few, the Rosny achieved lasting notoriety as the vessel that took on the mighty HMS Hood and came off second best. During the visit by the Hood to Port Melbourne in March 1924, the Rosny rammed into the side of this state-of-the-art battlecruiser.[vi]
This “naval duel” was a one-sided affair with the 180-ton ferry being no match for the 44,600-ton warship. The Rosny sustained damage to her bow and a large crack in her deck but was able to complete her journey to Williamstown. The repair bill was £2,000.[vii] This memorable incident was recalled in press reports in May 1941 after the German battleship Bismarck sunk the Hood.[viii]
In 1964, the Rosny was sold to Tamar Cruises of Launceston, but they went bankrupt soon after. Converted to a houseboat, the Rosny sank at her moorings in 1968. One of her lifeboats was salvaged and later restored.
[i] 1913 ‘HOBART-LINDISFARNE FERRY’, The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 – 1954), 28 July, p. 8. , viewed 03 July 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10293747
[ii] 1919 ‘BAY FERRY SERVICE.’, The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), 29 December, p. 4. , viewed 03 July 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4629384
[iii] 1920 ‘GRANTED HER CERTIFICATE’, Williamstown Chronicle (Vic. : 1856 – 1954), 12 June, p. 2. , viewed 03 July 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article69689227
[iv] T.K. Fitchett, 1973, ‘DOWN THE BAY: THE STORY OF THE EXCURSION STEAMERS OF PORT PHILLIP‘, Rigby, pp. 78-79.
[v] 1930 ‘S.S. “ROSNY.”‘, Williamstown Advertiser (Vic. : 1875 – 1954), 5 April, p. 6. , viewed 03 July 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article270895906
[vi] 1924 ‘NAVAL “DUEL”‘, The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 – 1954), 24 March, p. 1. , viewed 03 July 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article244223181
[vii] 1924 ‘HOOD IS STILL AFLOAT [?]’, The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 – 1954), 24 March, p. 1. , viewed 03 July 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article244223179
[viii] 1941 ‘SIMILAR GUNS’, The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), 26 May, p. 5. , viewed 03 July 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8152392
