PS Rodney is a heritage-listed paddle steamer shipwreck on the Darling River at Polia Station, Pooncarie in the Wentworth Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Captains Dorward and Davies and built by Thomas McDonald. The property is owned by Department of Trade & Investment, Regional Infrastructure & Services, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 23 November 2007.
History
The remains of the river paddle steamer Rodney encapsulate much of the regional history of the Darling River and the Western Plains: pastoralism, the river trade, the water-frontage stations, the tensions with the shearer's union and the uncertainties of the Darling flow.
Rodney was burnt by unionist shearers during the 1894 Australian shearers' strike in protest at it being used as a strike breaker during an industrial dispute. The 1890s shearers' strikes marked a turning point in Australian politics and the development of a politicised labour movement. Rising costs, job losses associated with new technologies, and a country that was headed towards an economic depression were combined with a growing sense of nationalism. The 1891 strike at Barcaldine, Queensland lead to the election of the first labour representative in parliament the following year. It is also regarded and the birth of the Labor Party. The 1894 strike was shorter and though by some accounts less hostile was accompanied by the dramatic burning and destruction of Rodney on the lower reaches of the Darling River.
On 26 August 1894, Capt Dickson was in command of Rodney carrying 45 non-union labourers upstream to work in the wool sheds at Tolarno Station. Rodney was also hauling a barge carrying goods and supplies for the stations en route.
On 28 August, the steamer reached a woodpile two miles above Moorara Station. Up to 150 striking shearers commandeered the steamer and surrounds. Having moved the passengers and crew to the riverbank, bags of chaff in the fore and aft holds were torn apart, soaked in kerosene and set alight. Rodney was soon ablaze from end to end and let go down the river. Eventually the vessel burnt almost to the water line and was destroyed. The incident was described in the press as "the very worst outrage that has yet been perpetuated by shearers in these colonies". A reward was offered for the capture of those involved in the destruction of Rodney, but no one was ever convicted.
The hull of PS Rodney was reported to be "irretrievably damaged so it was broken up and the debris was drawn out of the fairway of the river".
In early 1895 the steamer Nile, itself now a wreck in the Darling River at Bourke, assisted in salvaging material from the wreck. The boiler and machinery were removed and a quantity of tools and ironwork recovered. The boiler was allegedly later taken back to Echuca and used to power machinery at the local Freezing Works. It is not known what became of the engine.
Rodney was built at Echuca in 1875 for Captains Dorward and Davies. Constructed by Thomas McDonald at his yard near "Mackintosh Mills", the vessel was in length, in beam, and depth of just over . Rodney was powered by a horizontal direct acting steam engine of , built by Robinson Brothers of Melbourne.
Framed with angle iron (British Register of Ships), the hull was planked with River Red Gum. Fitted out with a single deck, cabin and upper saloon, the vessel was believed to be worth about A£3,000.
At the time of the loss in 1894, Rodney was owned by Permewan, Wright & Co and was said to be one of the most powerful steamers on the river. It was elsewhere described as "one of the finest of the river boats".
Description
The shipwreck is located low down in the bed of the Darling River and adjacent to Polia Station about north of the river town Pooncarie, about south of Menindee and some north of . The wreckage is orientated east-west on the southern bank of the river. The Rodney was in length, in beam, and depth of just over . The frames of the vessel are angle iron; the hull planking, stingers and keel timbers are River Red Gum. Access to the site is via a riverbank track east-southeast of Polia Homestead. Even during severe drought when the river level is about , (a depth described as "pooling" depth, i.e. with little or no flow), the lower hull remains of the vessel are partly submerged. The river bank is composed of light grey loam and the surrounding land is sparsely vegetated with river red gum and other Eucalypt species.
Condition
As at 22 November 2005, the wreck lies in an east-west orientation in the bed of a bend in the Darling River and up against the southern bank.