Historical information
Her role as a pilot cutter was to sail with pilots on board to meet ships entering Port Phillip Bay. Pilots would be transferred by the Wyuna's workboat to the vessel requiring pilotage while it was stopped dead in the water, with shelter provided by the vessel itself. In the early 1970s the pilot service started using fast launches to allow pilots to board while ships were still underway, and in 1979 the Wyuna was sold to the Australian Maritime College in Launceston, Tasmania as a training vessel. Wyuna served in Port Phillip as a pilot tender
Significance
Significant vessel served in Port Phillip Pilot Service
Physical description
Silverware from Pilot Boat Wyuna: Salt & Pepper Pots [6] - 5 with blue glass inserts, Small spoons [3], Gravy boats [1], nutcracker [1], Plate cover [1]
Inscriptions & markings
T.S.M.V. WYUNA on pots and gravy boats and oval spoon, P.P.P.S. on two round spoons. Makers mark on round spoons
Subjects
References
- MV WYUNA is a pilot ship built in 1952. It was built at Ferguson Shipbuilders, Glasgow in Scotland for the Port Phillip Sea Pilots. It is a steel vessel and, as an example of a diesel electric propulsion system, MV WYUNA was a highly successful design of the era. It formed a close association with mariners on Port Phillip over nearly 3 decades of service from 1953. It later served as a training vessel at the Launceston Maritime College. WYUNA is currently at a mooring on the Tamar River facing an uncertain future while authorities and its supporting group attempt to resolve how it can be moved and where it can be located for the future, along with securing funding for urgently needed conservation work.
