Albany - West Australia's first steamship hub

While SS Xantho was the first coastal steamship in Western Australia arriving in 1872, Albany had been an important port for international steamships since the middle of the nineteenth century. 

From the 1850s to the First World War, Albany was Western Australia’s primary port for steamships carrying mail and passengers. These steamship services provided important trade and communication links between West Australians and the rest of the world, and also brought new migrants to the state.  

From 1850, the Australian Royal Mail Steam Navigation Company, and later the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) invested heavily to develop Albany’s early steamship infrastructure. They established a coal depot, steamer port, and jetty to keep their essential operations running smoothly and efficiently. 

Between 1852 and 1900, P&O ran a steamship service between Singapore and Australia, with Albany as the first port of call. To service their steamships, the company permanently stationed four lighters – barges that transport goods and people to and from moored ships – and a coal hulk in Albany. To maintain these vessels, they constructed the first floating dock in Western Australia, made of jarrah timber, where vessels could be drydocked for repairs. 

The completion of Fremantle Harbour in 1897 saw fewer mail and passenger steamships stopping at Albany. By the end of the Second World War all steamship services to Albany had ceased. Today the Port of Albany supports key Western Australian exports, including grain, woodchips, and silica. 

Bruce in the floating dock at Albany, about 1900. The windmill on the dock operated the pump. State Library of Western Australia, 4689B/425

Owned by P&O, SS Chusan was the first mail steamer to arrive in Australia. Between 1852 and 1854, Chusan operated the Australia-Singapore mail service that stopped in Albany. State Library of Western Australia, T74f 

P&O Agency in Albany, 1863. State Library of Western Australia, 3881B/151