TSMV MANOORA, Adelaide Steamship Company, letter opener

Maker Adelaide Steamship Company Limited (1875 - 1977)

Manufacturer Angus & Coote

Date1935 - 1961

Object number00007346

NameLetter opener

MediumSilver plate

DimensionsOverall: 28 x 214 x 459 mm, 0.1 kg

ClassificationsTools and equipment

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionThis paper knife, with an anchor shaped handle, was collected as a souvenir from the TSMV MANOORA. MANOORA was the last of the Adelaide Steamship Company's interstate passenger ships.HistoryTSMV MANOORA, 1935 - 1961, was built by A Stephens and Sons of Glasgow. MANOORA immediately entered the Sydney to Fremantle run via Melbourne and Adelaide until 1939 when the vessel was requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy for WWII. It joined the China station in 1940 to patrol Malaysian waters; patrolled of the Queensland Coast; acted as an escort vessel; patrolled in the Bay of Bengal; was converted to a landing ship; and was used to bring home Australian troops from India, Dutch East Indies and Japan. MANOORA was released back to the company in 1949 after an extensive and lengthy refit, where it resumed the Fremantle run in the summer and the Cairns run in the winter months. In 1959/60 it cruised to Fiji and New Caledonia. In 1961 MANOORA was purchased by the Indonesian Government for the pilgrim trade from Indonesia to Jeddah. The vessel was sold to Taiwanese ship breakers in 1972, but sank off Luzon in shallow water later that year. The Adelaide Steamship Company was founded in 1857 when a group of businessmen saw the opportunity to capitalise on the Adelaide to Melbourne shipping route. Two ships were ordered from England and the company soon established itself on the coastal shipping scene. Over time, the Adelaide Steamship Company extended its routes around Australia, bought out other companies, expanded its fleet and eventually became one of Australia's most powerful and enduring shipping concerns.SignificanceThis silver plated paper knife is a good example of the type of silverware produced for and used aboard passenger vessels in the 20th century, on the Australian route.