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The Polly Woodside is a three masted sailing barque with an external cladding of
iron plates. She was launched from the yards of Workman Clark in Belfast in
1885. Her early years were in general cargo, including the nitrate trade
between the UK and South America. She made her first voyage to Australia in
1900 and was bought by New Zealand interests in 1904 and renamed Rona. She
operated mainly between New Zealand and Australia often carrying cargoes of
timber.
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In 1923 Rona became a coal hulk, employed bunkering steamships in
Sydney and then Melbourne. She served in New Guinea in WWII and returned to
Melbourne in 1946 to continue her role as a coal hulk. By the early 1960's she
was destined to be scuttled in Bass Strait until a group of ship enthusiasts,
led by Karl Kortum and Dr. Graeme Robertson, saw the potential for restoring
her to her former glory.
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In 1968, the barque was handed over to the National Trust. Over the next decade or
she so was progressively restored, mainly by PWVA volunteers under the supervision
of Capt.G.H. Heyen MBE and Master Rigger Tor Lindqvist.
In 1978, after reverting to her original name of Polly Woodside she was
moved to Duke's dry-dock, where she is maintained as a static exhibition by
members of the PWVA. In 1988, the Polly Woodside became the first merchant
ship in the world to be awarded the prestigious World Ship Trust Medal.
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