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Image Not Available for Steam yacht ENA
Steam yacht ENA
Image Not Available for Steam yacht ENA

Steam yacht ENA

Maker
Datec 1980
Object number00029554
NamePainting
MediumOil paints on board
DimensionsSight: 320 x 750 mm
Overall: 495 x 925 mm, 2.75 kg
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Christine O'Brien
DescriptionOil painting by J.Muir of the steam yacht ENA at sea. HistorySY ENA is an Edwardian steam yacht built in Australia and one of only three that remain extant in the country. SY ENA was designed by Sydney naval architect Walter Reeks and built by WM Ford Boatbuilders, both preeminent in their fields locally and nationally. The vessel represents the ability of Australian firms to design and build a luxury craft to a standard equivalent to the highest level in Europe and North America, in a period when the country was still relatively isolated from these centres of commerce and industry. SY ENA had a varied career, undertaking war service as HMAS SLEUTH in World War I, and then it became a commercial cargo and fishing vessel, renamed AURORE. SY ENA represents the resourceful nature of Australians, adapting and reusing items to meet their immediate requirements, and has strong connections to diverse levels of Australian society. It was restored in the mid-1980s following best practice of this period to a configuration based on its original arrangement. The high quality workmanship of this project has brought it back to the standard of the vessel when it was launched, with concessions to available materials, contemporary use and survey requirements. The project, managed by the late Nick Masterman, has inspired further significant restorations of Australian heritage craft. SignificanceSY ENA is considered one of the finest examples of an Edwardian period steam yacht in the world. It was designed by renown Sydney naval architect Walter Reeks and built in 1900 by WM Ford Boatbuilders just across the water from the Australian NAtional Maritime Museum in Berrys Bay. When launched it showed that Australians could design and build a luxury craft of a standard equivalent to the highest level in Europe and North America, in a period when the country was still relatively isolated from these centres of commerce and industry.