John Burke Queensland Proprietary Limited
Founded by John Burke who came to Australia from County Cork, Ireland as a 19 year-old seaman in 1861, this company’s “home ground” was the Queensland coast and over the one hundred and four years of its life, it operated over forty ships. At the start of the Second World War there were six ships in its fleet:
Ship |
Built |
Gross Tons |
In Service |
Canonbar | 1910 | 708 | 1927-1946 |
Poonbar | 1913 | 909 | 1928-1947 |
Wandana | 1913 | 974 | 1931-1948 |
Tinana | 1901 | 791 | 1932-1946 |
Bidelia | 1927 | 1385 | 1935-1955 |
Alagna | 1928 | 729 | 1939-1955 |
Wandana was formally requisitioned by the Australian Government in 1941 for service to the Thursday Island (by then a military) area, and Canonbar went under the command of the United States Small Ships Section from 1943 to 1945.