The incentive to build larger vessels came as early as the 1790s when fur seals were found on the islands of Bass Strait, and sperm and bay whales were discovered in the southern seas. The colonists, however, were not the first to exploit this new industry. Despite the fact that trade and shipping regulations had been relaxed for vessels tied to certain coastal trades, whaling was subject to strict control. There were few men in the colonies who could afford to finance a 'risky and costly voyage'[10] to the whaling grounds, and there were even fewer available seamen to man the craft. The colonists had to content themselves with the shore-based capture of black or bay whales. These animals seasonally came in close to the shore and entered river estuaries. In the Derwent River and Twofold Bay they were slaughtered in their hundreds, but even this industry was crippled by British high protective duties on the import of colonial goods. Thus 'for at least a generation, England's and New England's ships ruled the whaling grounds near Australia and New Zealand'.[11]

These early days of whaling and sealing were nonetheless of great benefit to shipping in the colonies, particularly to Van Diemen's Land. Hobart Town became an important port for the French, British and American whalers who farmed the southern oceans. The foreign fleets called in to refit and refurbish and, consequently, 'an expertise in sail making, rope works, boat building and repair resulted' from servicing these craft.[12] Armed with practical skills, shipwrights felled the local Tasmanian pine and blue gums and pitsawed them by hand to build dozens of small craft and, eventually, full rigged barques, schooners, and brigantines. According to Pemberton in his book on Australian coastal shipping, 'three hundred and thirteen vessels were built between 1812 and 1825 on the Derwent shoreline alone, and a further 132 at northern Tasmanian yards'.[13] On a local scale, a small fleet of ketches began to trade around the Derwent and surrounding inlets, transporting goods to outlying farmers, and larger craft began to ferry goods to New South Wales.

Sydney shipping was growing at the same time, stimulated not only by the influx of the foreign whaling vessels but also by a new economic prosperity. A similar concentration of expertise in boat building and repair developed, and the number and size of Australian owned craft grew. According to John Bach 'the larger vessels were permitted on the condition that they would not go beyond the limits of the territory, but since these were then defined so as to include most of the islands of the western Pacific, the owners were able legally to obtain skins, oil, sandalwood, pork and other products from within the area and bring that product back to Sydney for sale'.[14] Thus in 1805 a ship as large as the 185 ton King George was launched. By 1806 nearly twenty colonial ships were sailing Bass Strait and many vessels worked the Hawkesbury grain trade, or plied coal and cedar from the Hunter River or along the coast.[15] Gradually, other craft reached the size where they could visit various islands off the mainland and others ventured as far afield as New Zealand.

Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering