Steam Tugboat "Racer"

Steam Tugboat "Racer" was one of a number of tugboats used by the Melbourne Harbour Trust to tow and push larger vessels in and out of Port Melbourne and the Docks.

According to the "Argus" in 1936...the Racer, which served in the Port of Melbourne as a tugboat for nearly half a century, is being recommissioned as a schooner for the Tasmanian timber trade. The transition from steam to sail is not a new experience for her. She was built as a steam tug in Sunderland (England) in 1886, but was sunk in Queenstown (Ireland) and remained submerged for six months. She was raised and converted to a three-masted schooner. When she reached Melbourne she was again altered to steam. Next week the Racer will be towed to Geelong, and she will probably begin in the Bass Strait trade next month.

This photograph is from the early 20th century, actual date unknown, somewhere between 1890 and 1936 (when Racer was recommissioned as a schooner), probably in the 1920s.

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