Lady Forrest

From its earliest days the Port of Fremantle had a dubious record for ship safety. This reputation did not stem only from the reefs, shoals and sandbars that are found in the vicinity but also from the lack of port lights, landmarks, tugs and a decent pilot boat. 

In 1902 Harbour and Lights lodged an order for a purpose-built pilot vessel that could accompany incoming vessels, regardless of weather conditions, safely into Fremantle Port. The pilot vessel was to be the Lady Forrest named after Margaret Elvire Forrest the wife of John Forrest, first premier of Western Australia. 

The design chosen for the vessel was that of a self-righting Barnett pattern lifeboat, as used by England’s Royal National Lifeboat Institute and modelled off the designs of renowned naval architect James Peake. The 56 ft (17m) length of Lady Forrest's was made of galvanised high tensile steel. It was originally fitted with a compound surface-condensing steam engine built by White-Foster. 

The wisdom of purchasing a vessel of this design was proven by a record of 64 years continuously chaperoning vessels in and out of the harbour in all conditions. In 1959 the Lady Forrest was replaced by the M.V. Lady Gairdner and became a stand-by pilot vessel. In 1967 the boat was withdrawn from service and donated to the Western Australian Museum in 1970. 

Prior to donation Lady Forrest was restored to build configuration however some elements of the vessels superstructure as seen today are not exact, due to a lack of like materials. 

The Lady Forrest and the tugboat Ivanhoe in front of the State Ship Kangaroo, all tied up at Victoria Quay, Fremantle, c.1924. 
Credit: Izzy Orloff collection, State Library of Western Australia, BA1059/1187