The Falie is a 46-metre ketch that traded for many years in South Australian and Australian waters. During World War II, she served in the Royal Australian Navy. When she retired from commercial service in 1982 she was bought by the South Australian Government and restored as a historic vessel.[1]
She was built in Holland as a gaff rigged motor schooner collier in 1919 and named Logger. She was bought by the Spencer’s Gulf Transport Company Limited in 1922. In 1923, she sailed to South Australia where she was renamed as the Falie and participated in the extensive ketch trade to isolated towns along the coast of South Australia. Later she was converted from her original configuration to a ketch.
During World War Two, the Royal Australian Navy requisitioned the Falie, renaming her as HMAS Falie. Initially she was used as an inspection vessel. On the night of 31 May, she was acting as a watchdog outside Sydney Harbour, when she struck one of three Midget Submarines trying to gain access to the harbour through the anti submarine nets. In 1943 she was converted to a stores vessel and sailed up to Papua New Guinea where she saw action landing troops in enemy territory by night. [2]
In 1946 she was paid off and returned to her owners. For the next 15 years she carried explosives around the Australian coast. In 1968 she returned to South Australian waters where she continued to operate as a trading vessel until she retired in 1982, the last ketch to operate commercially in South Australian waters, and the last sail powered trading vessel in Australian waters.[2]
The Falie was then purchased by the Government of South Australia and restored for the state's sesquicentenary celebrations in 1986. She was re-masted and given new sails, and was fitted with accommodation and a galley below decks. With this arrangement she could carry up to 90 passengers on day trips and 20 passengers plus nine crew overnight.[2]
In 2005, a survey revealed that her hull plates had corroded to the point where she was unseaworthy. She was not returned to seaworthiness as no sponsor could be found to cover the cost of repairs, estimated to be more than a million dollars.[2][3]
Currently the Falie is sitting unused at Port Adelaide. An investigation is being carried out to determine how best to permanently preserve her.[2]
In 2007, it was proposed to move the Falie to the wharf at American River, Kangaroo Island as an interpretive maritime museum but by 2009 had not been acted on.[4] It was suggested that the South Australian Government was looking to divest itself of the Falie, and that the estimated cost of repairs to the hull was in excess of $3 million.[5]