Construction plan for wooden motor vessel
Designer
Ernest Olney Digby
Date9 May 1951
Object numberANMS1543[071]
NamePlan
MediumInk on tracing paper
Dimensions615 x 930
ClassificationsMaps, charts and plans
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection purchased with USA Bicentennial Gift funds
DescriptionAn Ernest Digby design Hull & Deck construction drawing, for wooden double-ended working boat from 1951.
HistoryThis hull and deck ‘construction drawing’, made by Ernest Digby in 1951, when he was 69-years old, is for a double-ended wooden working boat of about 50-feet in length. It is a technical drawing, but also a work of art, drawn in great detail. Every piece of timber in the hull and deck is shown, along with the fastenings and even the grain of the wood on each part. The size of the main engine, which dominates the interior of the hull, suggests this is a tug or towing vessel. No hold for fish or cargo is shown or accommodation, other than a small wheelhouse aft. The make of the main engine is not known but the designer has drawn it in detail with all the parts and accessories, including the marine gearbox, control lever, propeller shaft, stern tube, and propeller. Ernest Digby designed a similar boat some years earlier, in 1936, the 56-foot (17m) VICTORY, harbour tug which was planked in Huon pine and still sailing today.
The late Victorian era produced a number of outstanding yacht designers; Charles Nicholson, William Fife (III), Nathanael Herreshoff, Starling Burgess, Uffa Fox, Philip Rhodes, and G.L. Watson to name a few. Australian shipwright and yacht designer Ernest Digby is included in this group, as his design work and yacht building, produced over sixty years, is easily as good as any of the afore mentioned.
Born in 1882 at Port Fairy, Victoria, Ernest Olney Digby came from family of boat builders, sailors and fisherman. His father, fisherman and boat builder Joseph Digby, designed and built a Couta fishing boat for himself, called ‘ELLISE’ in 1903. Ernest became a boatbuilder/shipwright and later worked as shipwright foreman for the Melbourne Harbour Trust. He studied yacht design and naval architecture from books and was influence by Uffa Fox, and particularly Scotsman William Fife (III), whom he admired. He designed and built several boats at home in his spare time. One of these was, ‘INDEPENDENCE’ which he built in 1932.
Despite having eight children to raise with his wife Mary Anne, and only the wages of a working man, Ernest Digby designed and built DEFIANCE, the first Australian International 8-metre racing yacht in his backyard. A remarkable feat, which took place during the Great Depression when money and work was scarce. Built solely of Australian timber, Ernest Digby selected the best Queensland kauri for the hull planking and built the yacht with the help of three of his sons and a shipwright apprentice called Harry Clark. The International 8mR DEFIANCE, which is still sailing today, is 14.78 meter overall (48.49-feet) with a beam of 2.27 metre (7.44-feet). Launched in 1935 Ernest Digby owned the yacht for ten years, winning many races, including five Sydney to Hobart races.
His 8mR yacht DEFIANCE was particularly well named, as Ernest defied all class barriers at the time with his new racing yacht. Yachts and yachting in the 1930s was a sport only enjoyed by the rich and famous, including royalty. It was unheard of for a working shipwright to build and race such a yacht. He later designed and built a second 8mR in 1946 called FRANCIS named after his wife, Mary Ann Frances.
During his long and active career, Ernest Digby designed and built many fine yachts and commercial vessels. His design drawings are often very detailed, works of art compared to most modern equivalents. He is unquestionably one of the unsung heroes of Australian yacht design, building and racing. His passion and determination to design, build and race yachts is an inspiration which lives on, as many of his sons and family have become successful boat builders and yacht skippers. On receiving a new bicycle as a birthday gift, Ernest Digby was on the way to collect a newspaper when he was struck down by a drunk driver and killed at the age of 78 on November 12th 1960. SignificanceDesigned by Ernest Digby in 1951, when he was 69-years old, the drawing shows the construction details for a wooden, double ended working boat, possible a tug. The work provides no size by the vessel could be about 50-feet in length with a beam of about 16-feet. It is a remarkable drawing, showing every piece on timber in the hull and deck, along with the bolts and fastenings and even the direction of the dovetailed deck beam joints.
