Queensland Maritime Defence Force Auxiliary Gunboats

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Queensland Auxiliary Gunboats

General Characteristics
Displacement:	450 tons
Builder:	Walkers of Maryborough
Armament:	1 x 5 in Benito 1 x 64 pdr

With the formation of the Queensland Maritime Defence Force. To equip the new force the colonial government purchased two gunboats and a torpedo boat. However given the number of ports along the long Queensland coast it was realised that additional ships were required. Five ships had already been ordered for the Queensland Department of Harbours and Rivers when the decision was taken to convert them to also serve as Auxiliary Gunboats. This resulted in the fitting of a 5 in gun and the relocation of the boilers below the waterline. The ships were as follows:

Bonito
Bream
Dolphin
Pumba
Stingaree

These ships were built by Walkers at Maryborough and were the largest warships built in the Australian colonies before federation. The depression of the 1890s greatly curtailed operations with most of the vessels placed in reserve. Stingaree was listed until 1895 whilst Pumba remained until federation in 1901.

Most of these ships were sunk off Tangalooma or around the islands close to the mouth of the Brisbane River in Moreton Bay during the 1960s, however one worked in private hands on the Brisbane River into the 1990s.