First Paddle-Wheel Operation in Sydney Harbour
- When
- 1831
- Where
- Sydney Harbour
Sophia Jane became operational before Surprise and was the first steamer to turn a paddle-wheel in Sydney Harbour, not the first steamer in Australian waters.
Australia's first steamer, the small river vessel Surprise, had been launched in March 1831 with intended use on the Parramatta River. Sophia Jane nevertheless became an operational steamer before Surprise and was the first steamer to turn a paddle-wheel in Sydney Harbour. Her precedence is therefore specific to Sydney Harbour operation, not to steam navigation in Australian waters generally. No exact date is supplied for this milestone.
Sources
- Sophia Jane Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-17
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.