PREMIER {STEAM DREDGER} IN A STORM OFF NORTH SHORE, ESPERANCE

In l905 the vessel nearly capsized in a violent gale, the resultant watercolour was painted by C J Batelier from his knowledge of the working vessel when it was employed in Albany and his vivid impressions of what the sea and sky would look like in a storm of such immensity. Note that the vessel apparently has her engine room working at full capacity, from the volume of smoke pouring from the funnel. The amount of top hamper that was the frame and the buckets and chains, would have made this vessel a nightmare to work on in such a gale.