Fearless (tugboat)
Fearless is a tugboat that is located in Birkenhead, South Australia, Australia.
![]() Fearless | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Rockwing (1945 - 1947) |
| Builder: | Midlands Shipyards Ltd |
| Launched: | May 1945 |
| History | |
| Name: | Abqaiq 3[1] |
| Owner: | Arabian-American Oil Co., Ltd |
| In service: | 1949 |
| Out of service: | 1954 |
| History | |
| Name: | Fearless (1954 - current) |
| Owner: | |
| In service: | 1954 |
| Out of service: | 1982 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | Gross tonnage (GT) of 249[1] |
| Length: | 113 feet (34 m)[1] |
| Beam: | 30 feet (9.1 m)[1] |
| Depth: | 12.42 feet (3.79 m)[1] |
| Propulsion: | Triple Expansion steam engine cylinders[3] |
She was built in Midland, Ontario, Canada in 1945 as the Rockwing, then renamed Tapline 2 (1948–49) and Abqaiq 3 (1949-1954). She received the name Fearless in 1954.[1]
Fearless was put up for sale in 1972 in Brisbane, Australia and bought by Keith LeLeu for $1. He sailed her to Port Adelaide in with a volunteer crew, taking nine days. Four months later LeLeu sold the ship, with other museum materials, to the National Trust of South Australia, again for $1. The collection was subsequently transferred to the History Trust of South Australia with the Fearless being transferred at a later date to a developer called Southern Sea Eagles.[2][3]
In 2017, Fearless was one of the ships considered in a study funded by Renewal SA about "a strategy for berthing or locating historic ships and vessels within the inner harbour of Port Adelaide."[4]
References
- "ROCKWING". Great Lakes Vessels Online Index. Bowling Green State University. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
- "The Purchase of the Fearless". Port Adelaide Historical Society. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
- "Fearless". South Australian Maritime Museum. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
- "Port Adelaide Renewal Project, Historic Ships and Boats Strategy" (PDF). Prepared by Mulloway Studio for Renewal SA. 15 March 2017. pp. 1, 2, 5 & 16. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
