The Stone Fleet was the colloquial name for the small coastal ships that carried crushed-stone construction aggregate ('blue metal') to Sydney from the Illawarra ports of Kiama and Shellharbour and the nearby ocean jetties at Bombo and Bass Point.

The coastal shipping trade carried on by these ships was known colloquially as the 'Stone Trade' or 'Blue Diamond Trade'. The trade ended finally in 2011.

The 'Stone Trade' or 'Blue Diamond Trade'

The predominant bedrock in the Sydney metropolitan area is sedimentary rock—Hawkesbury Sandstone with some isolated areas of shale. Crushed stone was needed as aggregate for concrete, road making, and as ballast for railways and tramways. Sandstone and shale are totally unsuited to such purposes, which typically use crushed igneous rock. There are some intrusions of igneous rocks in the Sydney area, particularly at Prospect Hill and Hornsby, but these isolated outcrops, although later quarried, were insufficient to meet demand.

In the southern part of the Illawarra region, south from Sydney, there are extensive igneous rock formations—mainly basalt—stretching from north of Shellharbour to south of Kiama at Gerringong, and extending right to the coastline. Around Kiama, the formations—known as the Gerringong Volcanics—are the result of lava flows from the extinct collapsed volcanic vent known as Saddleback Mountain. It is by far the largest formation of igneous rocks relatively close to Sydney and was well situated to allow transport by sea. The South Coast railway line did not reach Shellharbour (Dunmore) and Bombo until 1887 and it took until 1893 to reach Kiama; by that time, shipping of 'blue metal' by sea was already well established.

After the railway reached the district, significant amounts of the quarried and crushed stone were sent by rail, and some quarries had their own sidings. Coastal shipping remained cost-competitive as a means of transport for many years and the coastal shipping trade in "blue metal" continued, with two lengthy interruptions, until 2011.

Another colloquial name for this trade, the 'Blue Diamond Trade' probably stems from the term 'Black Diamond' used to describe coal, with a similar analogy being applied to 'blue metal', as the quarried and crushed basalt was known colloquially. The ports of the Stone Trade Kiama (1881-1942)

Kiama was a port of the 'Stone Trade' from around 1881, when the Pike's Hill quarry opened on the outskirts of the town.The harbour at Kiama relies upon the natural shelter provided by Blowhole Point but is largely artificial. The Robertson Basin was excavated from solid rock between 1871 and 1876. The connection from Blowhole Point to the mainland—previously submerged at high-tide—was raised by adding rock excavated from the basin in 1871. It was also in 1871 that the first commercial shipment of crushed basalt—waste from the excavation of the basin—was made to Sydney. From 1881, there were two staithes for loading crushed stone at the Robertson Basin. From 1887, the port had the Kiama Light as an aid to navigation. It was difficult for sailing ships to enter Kiama, with a following wind, and not collide with the basin walls or other vessels; this problem was partially solved by placing a heavy chain on the seafloor at the harbour entrance, which ships could use to decelerate by dragging an anchor over it. Ultimately, sail gave way completely to steam, ending the need for this method of shedding speed.

A narrow gauge (2-foot / 610mm) railway line ran from the quarries to the port, via Terralong Street, from 1914 until 1941. Hoppers and staithes for loading crushed stone were located on the eastern side of the Robertson Basin. Until 1936, a branch of the tramway, along Manning Street, also took stone to a set of staiths south of the Kiama railway station, where it was loaded onto wagons for transport by rail.

The quarries at Kiama closed, in 1942, mainly due to 'Stone Fleet' ships being requisitioned by the navy. Operations did not resume until 1947.

Bombo Bombo was the site of an ocean jetty for the nearby headland quarry. The jetty was on the north side of Bombo Point. Bombo was more exposed to the weather than Kiama and a less reliable port as a result. Stone from the quarry was crushed and then carried in rail wagons onto the wharf, where it was loaded onto ships using any of three chutes. The crushers and jetty were capable of shipping 3,000 tones of crushed stone per week in 1885.

The jetty only operated from 1883 until 1889. The arrival of the railway in 1887 and the acquisition of the quarry by the NSW Government Railways in 1889 made the jetty redundant. Ships known to have used the jetty during its brief operational life included, Lass o' Gowrie, Resolute, and Civility.

Shellharbour

Blue metal was loaded at times at the small coastal-shipping port at Shellharbour, although it was better known as a port for agricultural products. It was a difficult port to navigate, used only by small craft—such as Paterson —and masters who had local knowledge. There was a small jetty there by the end of the 1850s. A larger jetty was constructed in the late 1860s. Although receiving some protection from Bass Point to the south and Cowrie Island to north, the Shellharbour jetty was exposed to heavy seas from the east or north-east.

An artificial harbour was constructed in the 1880s, with one breakwater running for 100 yards In a north-easterly direction and another to the south-east for 50 yards—from Cowrie Island—providing an entrance only 100 feet wide, with a depth of six feet of water. The breakwater was extended westward around 1899, to block completely the gap between Cowrie Island and the mainland.

The jetty ran from the south-east corner of the basin, for 50 yards to the north-east. There was only one berth on the north-west side of the jetty, with from five to seven feet of water at low tide. A 'swinging buoy' was used when berthing vessels that had to head north-east as they went alongside. There was also a smaller, high wharf on the northern side of the basin, near the site of the modern-day boat ramp.

The port remained in operation during the years that the Bass Point jetty was out of action, 1922 to 1927, following storm damage. The South Coast Metal Company had a wharf there in 1924.

Bass Point (near Shellharbour)

A wooden jetty was constructed around 1880 at Bass Point—an area also known in those times as 'Long Point'—to load crushed stone from an adjacent quarry. The jetty was 500 feet long. In 1904, Dunmore was berthing here four times a week, and each time would load 300 tons, in under two hours. The jetty was badly damaged by storms in 1922 and, although it eventually was repaired, did not reopen until 1927. The jetty closed during the Second World War and did not resume operation after the war. It survived until 1957, when it was damaged in bad weather; its remains were demolished in 1958.

The existing jetty and its loader were completed in 1973. It could load a ship at a rate of 900 tonnes per hour. Bass Point was the last port of the 'Stone Fleet', closing in 2011.

Sydney Harbour (Pyrmont, Woolloomooloo and Blackwattle Bay) The first shipment of gravel from Kiama arrived at Sydney in 1871.

In the early 20th Century, 'blue metal' was unloaded at Pyrmont, by gangs of men in a similar way to 'coal lumping'. This was dangerous work.

There was a wharf for unloading 'blue metal', Berth No.8, at the south-western corner of Woolloomooloo Bay, by 1907. During the 1930s, Blue Metal and Gravel Company Pty Ltd had discharge hoppers at Woolloomooloo and 'blue metal' was unloaded there.

By 1902, 'Blue metal' was unloaded at wharves at the head of Blackwattle Bay in Sydney Harbour. From 1972, this facility was owned by Hanson. In its last decade, Blackwattle Bay was unloading 380,000 tonnes of crushed stone per annum. Part of the facility, the concrete batching plant, was still operating in 2019, but ships no longer unloaded there. It has since been demolished to clear a part of the site of the new Sydney Fish Market redevelopment.

The fleet

The ships

In the earliest years of the coastal trade, the "Stone Fleet" ships were sailing vessels. These were quickly supplanted by small coal-fired steamers designed to carry bulk cargo. The steamers in the earlier years of the trade were relatively small, wooden ships, like Civility, built in 1872, Dunmore, built in 1891—both from the Rock Davis shipyard—and Resolute, built in New Zealand in 1883. Another wooden steamer used in the stone trade was Kiltobranks, built in 1908 by the Rock Davis yard. These early steamships were, in turn, superseded gradually, by somewhat larger steel-hulled vessels, from around 1900 onwards. An exception to the wooden ships was the iron-hulled Lass o' Gowrie, built in Scotland in 1878. The first steel-hulled vessel was the (first) Kiama, built in Glasgow and delivered in late 1902; she replaced Civiility. In mid 1918, Dunmore left the coastal trade and was used for the interstate trade. Another steel vessel, Bombo was delivered in 1930. Both came out from Scotland to Kiama, under their own power. However, surviving wooden-hulled steamers, such as Paterson and Belbowrie continued to carry crushed stone during the inter-war period. Paterson was the last wooden-hulled vessel of the "Stone Fleet".

Throughout the period of the stone trade, certain names were reused for later ships; Dunmore (two ships, 1891 and 1951) and Kiama (two ships 1902 and 1950). There was an earlier Kiama, during the later years of the 19th Century, but she was a coastal paddle steamer of the Illawarra Steam Navigation Company. She was used on the South Coast, up to 1896, but not to carry stone.

There was also a similar type of small bulk cargo ship, usually dedicated to carrying coal, known as a 'sixty-miler'. Some 'sixty miler' ships carried construction aggregate from time to time. 'Stone Fleet' ships would occasionally carry coal, as part of the coastal coal-carrying trade. Given the density of their cargo, 'Stone Fleet' ships were smaller and had relatively smaller holds than the typical 'sixty-miler' designed to carry coal.

The last ship of the 'Stone Fleet', the self-discharging bulk carrier MV Claudia, was much larger and faster than the earlier vessels. The ship had three separate holds and could handle three different materials in any one trip, with a total capacity of 3,800 tonnes.

The ship owners

Early owners Civility was built to the order of William Short of the Baltic Wharf, Sydney, in 1872, originally destined for the Richmond River trade. By 1886, she was owned by George Hill, who was the proprietor of the quarry at Bombo. After the Bombo quarry was sold to the NSW Railways in 1889, she remained in the stone trade, working from Kiama. She was replaced by (first) Kiama in late 1902. Lass o' Gowrie was owned by George Hill, proprietor of the quarry at Bombo, until she was sold to Howard Smith, in 1896, and went to work on the Queensland coast. Resolute was owned by Justin McSweeney, during the time that she was a stone carrier.

Fuller family Dunmore (first) was owned by the Fuller family (G.L. Fuller & Sons), operators of the quarry at Bass Point (then known as Long Point), and remained owned by them during her working life. Dunmore, County Galway was the birthplace of George Lawrence Fuller (1832—1917).

Kiama Road Metal Company & NSW Government Kiama (first) was originally owned by Kiama Road Metal Company, which operated the quarry at Kiama. When the quarry was sold to the NSW Government, in 1911, Kiama was included in the assets sold. The government sold her to Bellambi Coal Company Ltd, operators of the South Bulli Colliery, in 1932. After her time owned by George Hill, Civility was bought by Kiama Road Metal Company, and remained owned by them until sold around 1908.

H.R. Lancey