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Sugar Lighters in the Johnstone River, Queensland In the early days of settlement at Geraldton (Innisfail ), the Johnstone River had a sand bar at the mouth and several shallow stretches in the river. This caused difficulties for shipping. Large ships had to either anchor at the mouth of the river and wait for a suitable high tide so that the bar could be crossed or anchor in Mourilyan Harbour to the south. The problem of large ships being unable to enter the river made it difficult for bags of sugar from the district sugar mills to be transported to southern refineries. To overcome this problem, shallow draft steam ships and lighters (called sugar lighters ) were used to carry the bags of sugar down the Johnstone and out to meet larger ships standing off the coast.〔P4, Cairns Post 15 Feb 1928〕 or in nearby ports, mainly Cairns. These larger ships then transported the cargo to its destination. These small ships became known as "The Mosquito Fleet". == Ships of the Mosquito Fleet == Many different ships were part of the Mosquito Fleet at different times.〔P374,'Hurrican Lamps and Blue Umbrellas'〕 #The Palmer, a steel, twin screw steamer,140 feet in length, which arrived in 1884.〔P6,Sydney Morning Herald 3 Oct 1884〕 #The Muriel which arrived in 1894 and was part of the fleet until 1926 when she was sold to Hayles of Townsville. #The Wakefield from 1896 until 1910 #The SS Herbert from 1896 until 1932 #The Carroo from 1900 until she caught fire after an explosion off Hinchinbrook Island. #The Goondi, which was a former tug originally named the Gartmore, until it was sold in 1955 to Wilson Hart and Co, sawmillers of Maryborough. #The Katoora which was built in 1927 and was sold in 1960 to Keith Holland Shipping of Cairns. #The SS Toorie from 1928 until 1940. #The Innisfail and the Cora were general cargo vessels as well as carrying raw sugar.〔P37, The Johnstone River〕 #The Korara from 1954 until 1960.〔P374,'Hurrican Lamps and Blue Umbrellas'〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mosquito Fleet (Johnstone River, Queensland)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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