1910, Captain William Randell & boiler of the Mary Ann opposite (still existing) Bogan Store (Mannum Dock Museum collection)
Nationality: Australian
Vessel type: Historic Paddle Steamer built 1852
Date lost: Approximately 1868
Cause of loss: Sanded – hull used on subsequent boats Gemini 1855, Nil Desperandum 1865
Number of Casualties: Nil
Discovery date: Still searching although 2016 sonar search has located boat-shaped “anomalies” in the suspected location
Location/water depth: Near Mannum ferry, Murray River in front of the Mannum Dock Museum, water depth unknown
The first paddle steamer built on the Murray River has eluded many over the past 150 years who have attempted to find this precious piece of Australia’s maritime history.
Built in 1852 at Mannum by Captain William Randell, the PS Mary Ann now nestled in the depths of the Murray opened up 100 years of bustling river trade traversing the reaches of the Darling and the Murray across 3 States.
In 1853 the ‘great race’ to Echuca between the PS Lady Augusta and the Mary Ann was cemented in history with the winner still debated around riverside campfires today!
The Mary Ann’s original boiler was salvaged in 1912 and is on show at the Mannum Dock Museum. In latter years Captain Randell was seen in a small boat near the ferry and when asked what he was he doing, he replied ‘polling for my lost youth’.
The search continues!
National engineering “excellence”
URLs
http://www.murrayriver.com.au/paddleboats/the-mary-ann-boiler/
http://mannum.org.au/ps-mary-ann.html
http://www.psmarion.com/william-randell/
1875, PS Cumberoone with what appears to be the boiler of the Mary Ann (RHS edge) sitting on the bank (possibly exposed due to a low river). (State Library of South Australia)
Contemporary etching shows the PS Lady Augusta (left) and the PS Mary Ann (right) at Swan Hill 27 September 1853 (Mannum Dock Museum Collection)
After Engineer JL Scott pulled the Mary Ann Boiler out of the river 1912 (Mannum Dock Museum Collection)
1917 Murray River flood, Mary Ann boiler (on bank under shelter) base of Post Office Hill (Mannum Dock Museum Collection)
1997 Captain Dick Bromhead conceptual drawing of PS Mary Ann (Mannum Dock Museum Collection)
Today – Original boiler on display at the Mannum Dock Museum (Mannum Dock Museum Collection)
Objects of interest (artefacts, images or other collection items) associated with the shipwreck story.
AMMC Member Institution
Mannum Dock Museum of River History
submitted by Debbie Alexander
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