High , dry and eerily empty is this rare arts and crafts design distinctive building , once the busy office of the Adelaide Steamship Company in Cairns , North Queensland, one of Australia's enterprising colonial ventures that grew into a huge , diversified conglomerate which eventually went down like the Titanic .
The ghosts of a colourful , bygone shipping era haunt this interior view taken through a window and another angle , below , details the interesting timber fittings, a large walk in safe on the right , the area recently occupied by a real estate company .
Near the main entrance view , below , of the building , above which can be seen a ship outline and the company name , is a heritage sign containing information about the Adelaide Steamship Company and some of its vessels, including the MV Manunda , converted to an Australian hospital ship, bombed by the Japanese in Darwin on February 19, 1942 , resulting in 12 deaths and 58 wounded .
Near the main entrance view , below , of the building , above which can be seen a ship outline and the company name , is a heritage sign containing information about the Adelaide Steamship Company and some of its vessels, including the MV Manunda , converted to an Australian hospital ship, bombed by the Japanese in Darwin on February 19, 1942 , resulting in 12 deaths and 58 wounded .
Australia's Pearl Harbour, by Douglas Lockwood , Cassell Australia ,1966, contains graphic details of what happened aboard Manunda and tells how the badly damaged ship with 456 sick and wounded aboard limped out of Darwin the next day headed for Fremantle , there being 11 burials at sea along the way .
Formed in 1875 by prominent pastoralists and businessmen such as Andrew Tennant , Robert Barr Smith and Thomas Elder , Adelaide Steamship Company became the biggest shipping operation in Australia ; in 1935 it formed Adelaide Airways (see Wikipedia photo above ) , bought out West Australian Airways , formed Australian National Airways , which was sold to Reg Ansett in 1957 ; for more than 100 years the company dominated Australian passenger and cargo shipping , employing 800 at sea and about 90 in offices ; shipbuilding was another activity and towage .
In the 1970-80s , under CEO John Spalvin , Adsteam became a corporate raider , borrowing large amounts of money to buy controlling interests or holdings in Woolworths, David Jones, Penfolds Wines , Tooths Brewery , Farmers Union, , Metro Meat , Petersville Sleigh with interests in food, timber and woodchips, AWA electronics , and other companies involved in construction and land development .
It held 15 per cent of shares in Westpac and 20 per cent of Bells Resources, the Holmes a Court company, amassed 156 tugs and had other interests . During the l980s it was Australia's fourth highest capitalised company . Caught in the l990s recession , 200 banks demanded their money and the company was forced to sell assets in a giant fire sale , wiping out the great enterprise, once the pride of South Australia . Recriminations and lawsuits followed .
The South Australian Maritime Museum has a large collection of Adelaide Steamship Company items including a fancy head office epergne , ship fittings , badged cutlery, brochures , uniforms and an upright piano .
Oddity/Spooky Note :The former Adelaide Steamship office in Cairns is situated in a flood - prone part of the city and like the company could go under. In the photograph below of the office interior taken late in the afternoon an old Adsteam ghost seems to be guarding the premises against bankers and bailiffs , ready to man the pumps .
