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*Lady Forrest*
	Lady Forrest outside Fremantle heads, c. 1924
History
Australia
Name	Lady Forrest
Namesake	Margaret Forrest
Operator	Fremantle Harbour Trust
Port of registry	Fremantle
Builder	Samuel White & Co.
Laid down	1902
Commissioned	August 1903
Decommissioned	1967
Identification	Vessel No. HV000617
Fate	Preserved
General characteristics
Type	Pilot boat
Tonnage	31.49 GRT
Length	17.23 m (56.5 ft)
Beam	4.6 m (15 ft)
Height	1.93 m (6 ft)
Draught	3.8 ft (1 m)
Propulsion	General Motors Gray Marine diesel engine (formerly steam-powered)

Lady Forrest is a preserved pilot boat used in Fremantle Harbour from 1903 to 1967. It is currently displayed in the Western Australian Maritime Museum, Fremantle.

History

Lady Forrest was ordered by the Harbour and Light Department^[1]^[2] for use by the newly created Fremantle Harbour Trust, replacing the Rottnest-Fremantle pilot Atlantic, which became a fishing boat,^[3] and an insufficient earlier pilot, Pelican, built in 1900.^[4] Atlantic and other pilots were replaced upon a state inquiry into pilot and coastal services after two major tragedies involving the wrecking of Carlisle Castle and City of York in 1899^[5]^[1] with a combined death toll of 17 people.

The new pilot boat was laid down in 1902 with designs by W. Tregarthen Douglass inspired by notable lifeboat designer James Peake. Its hull was designed to be the exact distance between the crests of two waves.^[1]^[5] Lady Forrest was named after Margaret Forrest, wife of Western Australian premier John Forrest, and built by Samuel White & Co. of East Cowes, Isle of Wight in England^[1] with a steam engine built by White-Foster. It was delivered on board SS Fifeshire,^[5] and entered service in August 1903.^[6] One of its earliest captains was Macfarlane during which it was berthed at Victoria Quay,^[7] it was overhauled almost every third month at North Wharf.^[8]

Immigrants arriving in Western Australia were greeted by the State Labour Bureau headed by A. O. Neville aboard the Lady Forrest.^[9]

In August 1942 it had the brass conning tower installed from the Dutch submarine HNLMS K VIII which had been decommissioned and was later scuttled in Cockburn Sound.^[10]^[5] When the HMAS Dalgoma broke free of its anchors and collided with the coal hulk Samuel Plimsoll resulting in its sinking in 1945^[11] the Lady Forrest took depth soundings to find deeper water.^[12] In 1947 the White-Foster steam engine was replaced by a Gray Marine diesel engine from General Motors; it underwent another thorough overhaul in 1953.^[5]

Following the commissioning of a new pilot boat, MV Lady Gairdner, in 1959, Lady Forrest was transferred to handle customs and immigration officers;^[5]^[1]^[13] in 1960 all Fremantle pilots received VHF international maritime radio telephones.^[14] Lady Forrest was decommissioned in 1967^[5]^[1] having completed 64 years of service. On 16 December 1970^[15] it was donated to the Western Australian Maritime Museum (part of the Museum of Western Australia),^[1]^[16] being restored various times, most recently in 2001; it went on display in the current museum building in 2013.^[5]