The Museum is home to several vessels listed on the Australian Register of Historic Vessels, including the Lady Denman Ferry, Crest, Kingfisher and Porthole. These vessels are representative of the wooden boatbuilding which took places in Huskisson from the late nineteenth century to the late twentieth century by the Dent and Settree shipbuilders.
Built by Joseph Dent in 1911, just a few hundred metres from the Jervis Bay Maritime Museum, the Lady Denman carried passengers on Sydney Harbour for sixty-seven years. Upon her retirement in 1979 an intrepid band of volunteers inspired by local identity, Dick Young and local Member of Parliament, John Hatton embarked on the seemingly impossible task of returning the old ferry to her birthplace.
The story of this iconic Walter Reeks-designed vessel, from 1911 to her final installation in the museum in 2000 is told through displays on board the ferry. Restoration to her mid-1960s appearance is an ongoing project.
The Lady Denman is listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register and the National Register of Heritage Vessels.
The Crest is a 1911 fishing launch constructed by Frederick Dent at the Dent shipyard in Currambene Creek. The vessel was built for Danish-born fisherman John (Jack) Rossen and named Ninon after his wife. Jack operated the vessel until his death in 1957. It was renamed Crest by its second owner Len Wright, who donated it to the Museum in 1987.
A team of volunteers restored Crest under professional supervision, and the vessel was relaunched on March 10 2020. It is often seen on the pond at the front of the Museum.
To read more about the Crest Restoration Project, visit the project blog.
Kingfisher is a 30ft boat built shortly after the end of World War II. Designed for fishing on and beyond Jervis Bay, the vessel has a long association with the local area. It was constructed at the Settree boat shed on Currambene Creek, and each of its owners were from Jervis Bay, including its last, John Settree, grandson of the shipwright who built it.
Kingfisher can be considered a transitional vessel as it contains elements of pre and post war design. Due to its fine entry and wake characteristics it is regarded as a good example of its type by contemporary shipwrights.
Originally named Antoinette, this fishing boat was built by Alfred Raymond (Alf) Settree for Rocco Musumici in Huskisson in 1952. It brings together two dominant themes of Jervis Bay’s history: boat building and fishing.
Wooden boat building is a dying craft, and this partly-built trawler was brought from Batemans Bay by Alf Settree in 1996 as an example of the underlying structure of a planked wood-frame vessel.
Alf Settree OAM (1914-1998) was a master shipbuilder. His father AWM Settree bought the Dent shipyard on Currambene Creek in 1932, where both the Lady Denman and the Ninon (Crest) were built in 1911. Alf was a guiding force in the early days of the Museum and supervised the construction of this boatshed.
