The Rose Hill Packet named after the little packet (or mail) boats, was a marine craft built in Australia, launched in Sydney Cove in September and commissioned on the 5 October 1789, intended for running the first Parramatta River trade ferry, passenger, cargo, and mail service between the Cove and the Rose Hill (Parramatta) settlements. She was the first purpose-built vessel constructed in Australia.
Governor Phillip appointed a Midshipman, Henry Brewer, as a temporary superintendent of building works in the colony seven years before in 1796 Governor Hunter would establish a government shipyard in Sydney Town. The craft was laid down on 30 December 1788[1] on King's Slipway, later the James Underwood yards on the east side of Sydney Cove, somewhere near the site of the present Customs House, by convicts under supervision of Robinson Reid, the carpenter from the HMAT Supply. Reid called the craft a 20-ton (about 15.9m3) launch which would produce a 38–42 foot craft, certainly larger than any fleet ships could have carried on board to the new colony. However, it was variously reported to be 10 or 12 ton, or alternatively the size of a small hoy decked boat, sloop-rigged, designed for inshore work. She carried a single mast, and was also provided with oars, reportedly requiring occasional use of poles due to her heaviness, though no images of her survive. Reports suggest she could carry up to 30 passengers, and perhaps the lesser tonnage refers to her cargo hold capacity, while the carpenter referred to her displacement.
Unfortunately the quality of local timber left few options for the construction, and "From the quantity of wood used, she appeared to be a 'mere bed of timber' and, when launched, was named by the convicts, the Rose Hill Packet, but afterwards, was more appropriately known by the name of 'the lump'." This was not however due to the lack of construction skills, but because the expedition had brought with it practically no specialised shipbuilding tools, and many of the carpentry tools intended for use in the cutting and shaping of the European timbers turned out to be unsuitable for the task mainly due to the density of the local hardwood timber.[2] Although there were 16 ship's carpenter's in the colony, of the convicts used in the building of the packet only twelve were trained as carpenters. All these factors forced excessive use of timber, and hence the unflattering reference for the little craft.
The difficulties in constructing the Rose Hill Packet lay with the type of timber readily available in the Sydney area, the Sydney red gum. Some trees were 23 or more metres high with no lateral branches until 15 metres. Their girth could measure in excess of eight metres in diameter, but the trunks were hollow and rotten in 11 out of a dozen felled trees. Cox and Freeland describe the species as, "almost without exception, they rot out at the heart before they are any useful size leaving a mere shell of living sound wood.".[3] It was found that no matter in what way it was sawn or how well it was dried, that when placed in water "it sinks to the bottom like a stone". Members of the First Fleet soon realised that, "despite their amazing size the trees were scarcely worth cutting down." Several years later, George Thompson summed up Australian timber as "of little use - not fit for building either houses or boats.".[4] It wasn't until later that Australian settlers found that the most useful timbers for boat and ship building were the Eucalypts species: iron bark, stringy bark, box and the blackbutt, the bluegum, and turpentine. Consequently the axes, saws and chisels used by carpenters broke or became blunt with the unfamiliar timber which only much later was discovered to have a density three times that of the European Oak [5] To add to their voes, the red gum began to split and warp almost as soon as it was cut, making the usual seasoning impossible, and forcing the use of green timber. However, the same timber after being seasoned for 15 years was reportedly very strong and suitable by the time the colony's first three-masted ship King George was being built.[6]
Because of the timber used, the craft's performance was considered sluggish, and she was an awkward looking row-and-sail boat. As much as the service was useful to the settlers, the craft lacked durability due to use of green timber, and was difficult in operating, sometimes requiring even the passengers to row. Other lighter sailing craft and rowing boats were soon brought into service as ferries across the Harbour and up and down the river. The packet service was discontinued by 1800.