Fremantle Harbour is Western Australia's largest and busiest general cargo port and an important historical site. The inner harbour handles a large volume of sea containers, vehicle imports and livestock exports, cruise shipping and naval visits, and operates 24 hours a day.

The harbour is also referred to as the Inner Harbour and is managed by Fremantle Ports, a government trading enterprise. The authority also manages the Outer Harbour, 20 km south at Kwinana in Cockburn Sound which handles bulk cargo ports, grain, petroleum, liquefied petroleum gas, alumina, mineral sands, fertilisers, sulphur and other bulk commodities. Fremantle Ports was previously known as Fremantle Port Authority.

History

Fremantle's port role began immediately the Swan River Colony was founded in 1829, but the entrance to the Swan River estuary was blocked by a rocky bar, which made the mouth of the river virtually impassable for sea-going vessels.The first steamship to enter the port was H.M.S. Driver on 4 December 4, 1845.

Fremantle shipping was served by the Long Jetty that extended into the open sea, where Bather's Beach is today. Cargo was offloaded onto the jetty and then taken down Cliff Street in Fremantle's West End. It was loaded onto barges that sailed up the river on the westerly sea breeze and back to Fremantle on easterly winds. Later it was transported by rail.Sailors disliked the Long Jetty: in 1892 Captain D.B. Shaw of the Saranac described it as "terrible":

"…entered and fought against putting the vessel alongside jetty to discharge.

It is a terrible place.

No place to put a vessel.

No shelter whatever.

All the ships have to lay and discharge at the wharf or pay lighterage…It is blowing a gale from the SW…and takes all our time to hold her….

She had done considerable damage to herself…It is certainly the worst place I or anyone else ever saw.

No place to send a ship of this size…Any man who would come or send a ship a second time is a damned ass."

Other alternatives

British marine engineer Sir John Coode advised Sir John Forrest an outer harbour near Rous Head, or one that would stretch south from Arthur's Head, could be built. Coode ruled out building a port in the river mouth as he believed it would continually silt up due to lateral sand drift.In 1887 the Fremantle Chamber of Commerce pushed hard for the southern scheme to be chosen, but the Colony could not raise the half-million pounds which were estimated what such an initiative would cost.By 1891 Forrest was examining another proposal: an offshore facility at Owen Anchorage south of Fremantle.But by then Charles Yelverton O'Connor had been appointed the Colony's Engineer-in-Chief, and decided the best option was an inner harbour built in the mouth of the Swan River.The discovery of gold in Western Australia meant a working port was urgently needed, Parliament finally accepted O'Connor's plan after much political haggling, the capital was raised in London and preliminary work commenced late in 1892..

Harbour development

The first stage of the harbour works began with a ceremony in which the Governor's wife, Lady Robinson, tilted the first truck load of rubble for the North Mole.Blasting and dredging the rocky bar created a channel, dredging deepened the river basin, and two moles were built to protect the harbour entrance. Land was reclaimed so quays and warehouses could be built. The inner harbour was opened on May 4, 1897 when the steamer Sultan with Lady Forrest at the wheel was the first ship to enter the partly-built port.

"While the harbour has been deepened, and facilities extended and modernised over the years, the basic structure of the Inner Harbour remains essentially unchanged to this day, testament to the boldness, brilliance and foresight of its designer."

Mail packets

As the port neared completion, Forrest lobbied the British to have Fremantle as the port of call for the Mail Packets. Victoria and New South Wales fought for the retention of Albany as the Mail Packet port, as they were fearful they would lose business. Forrest threatened Western Australia may stay out of the proposed federation of Australian colonies unless they agreed.On August 3, 1900, Forrest won when the Postmaster-General in London informed the Post Master-General in Perth that Fremantle would be substituted for Albany as the port of call for Mail Packets.Ten days later the Orient Company's RMS Ormuz, homeward bound from Sydney to London, was the first British mail carrier to enter and berth in Fremantle harbour.In 1901 Fremantle surpassed Albany for the first time in total tonnage of ships and the following year in the number of ships when it cleared 410 ships (1,045,170 tons) to Albany's 248 ships (540,910 tons).

Rail link

In 1907 Fremantle railway station opened next to the harbour.

Waterfront violence

During a waterside clash between police and workers on Bloody Sunday, May 4, 1919, lumper Tom Edwards was struck on the head with a police baton. He died three days later, leaving a wife and three children. A memorial fountain by Pietro Porcelli was erected in Edwards' memory that year, and was moved to Fremantle's Kings Square in 1968.

Signal station

In 1928 the Signal Station at Fremantle was moved from Arthur Head to a site on Cantonment Hill. This building was replaced in 1956 by a new structure, whose functions were superseded in 1964 by the opening of a signal station on the new Port Authority administration building, which was opened by Premier David Brand on March 5.

Wartime role

During World War II, the harbour accommodated scores of Allied naval vessels on active service. Battleships, troop transports, hospital ships and support vessels, including many passenger ships, were seconded into the war effort.Visitors to Fremantle during the conflict were passenger liners and converted troop carriers RMS Queen Elizabeth and RMS Queen Mary. Because of their size neither was able to take up an inner harbour berth, and instead anchored in Gage Roads. Other well-known ships to visit included the RMS Strathaird, RMS Strathnaver, RMS Orion and RMS Otranto.In 1940 boom defences were installed in the harbour as a security measure and anti-aircraft installations were built.After the fall of Singapore in March 1942, many ships sought refuge at Fremantle: at times 30 were at anchor in Gage Roads.

"In the inner harbour, it was…a common sight to see up to as many as four vessels of substantial size lying in tier, and it was due solely to the circumstances forced upon the port and the prevailing weather conditions that such a state of affairs could be permitted.

Altogether, some 75 vessels were using the inner and outer harbours at one and the same time, and in the fortnight ending 20th March, a total of 103 vessels, Naval and merchant, and mainly seeking refuge, arrived at the port.

Until these vessels could be ordered to some other destination, acute conditions persisted at the port for some weeks."

Fremantle Submarine Base was the largest submarine base in the southern hemisphere during World War II. The first United States submarines arrived at Fremantle in 1942, the US Navy built a submarine repair facility on North Quay the next year, and until 1945 the port accommodated more than 170 submarines from the U.S., British and Dutch navies.

C. Y. O'Connor statue

A statue honouring C. Y. O'Connor was erected on Victoria Quay on June 23, 1911. It now stands near the entrance to the Fremantle Ports administration building in Cliff Street.

Passenger Terminal

The Fremantle Passenger Terminal was constructed in time for the Empire (Commonwealth) Games in 1962.

See also

References

1. Wikisource:The Fremantle Wharf Crisis of 1919

Further reading

• Britton, David. (1987) History of the port The West Australian, 2 May 1987, p. 35, 36
• Davidson, Dean. (2000) The inner harbour of the port of Fremantle. (History of the inner harbour through to the formulation of the current port development plan) Western planner (West Perth, W.A.) Mar. 2000, p. 10-11,
• Institution of Engineers, Australia. Western Australia Division. (1989) Construction of Fremantle Harbour, 1892-1901 : the Institution of Engineers, Australia National Historic Engineering Landmark nomination submitted by Western Australia Division, I.E. (Aust.) and Fremantle Port Authority. West Perth, W.A : The Division. ISBN 0909421242 (pbk.)
• Merrin, Gary. (1997) Centenary port to celebrate. Road patrol Apr./May 1997, p. 10-12
• Tull, Malcolm. (1997) A community enterprise : the history of the Port of Fremantle, 1897 to 1997 St John's, Nfld.: International Maritime Economic History Association. ISBN 0968128823 (pbk.)