Addresses
Type of place
Hall, Defence site
Period
Postwar 1945-1960
This is an image of the local heritage place known as T.S. Paluma
T.S. Paluma Naval Cadet Hut
Addresses
Type of place
Hall, Defence site
Period
Postwar 1945-1960
The T.S. Paluma was purpose-built in 1953 as a training ship (shore depot) for the Dolphin Sea Cadets. The unit was formed in Ashgrove in 1951 and moved to Stafford in 1952. The depot was designed to simulate a ship with a gunnery deck, companionways and associated equipment, including a Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun. To maintain a link to Queensland’s naval history, the hut was named after the former Queensland Maritime Defence Force gunboat Paluma. In 1961, the unit became part of the Royal Australian Navy’s Sea Cadet Corps. Until late 2015 the site included a 24-pounder Carron naval cannon, which was relocated to the Botanic Gardens following the naval cadets vacating the site. The hut is rare as Brisbane only had two naval cadet huts, with the Alice Street hut now demolished.
Lot plan
L5_SP150610
Key dates
Local Heritage Place Since —
Date of Citation —
Criterion for listing
(A) Historical; (B) Rarity; (D) Representative; (G) Social; (H) Historical associationInteractive mapping
Lot plan
L5_SP150610
Key dates
Local Heritage Place Since —
Date of Citation —
Criterion for listing
(A) Historical; (B) Rarity; (D) Representative; (G) Social; (H) Historical associationInteractive mapping
History
Founded at Ashgrove in September 1951, the Dolphin Sea Cadets met in a number of venues before moving to a purpose-built training depot, T.S. Paluma*, erected in 1953-54 in Gibson’s Park. The depot was designed to simulate a ship with a gunnery deck, companionways and associated equipment. It was extended in 1961. The construction of the building was funded by parents’ subscriptions and fundraising activities.
T.S. Paluma was recognised as an Australian Sea Cadet Corps unit in 1961 and supported by the Australian Navy with uniforms, instructors and equipment. The T.S. Paluma has a maximum crew of 120 members and offers cadets training in elementary seamanship, small boat work and sailing. In addition, older cadets are offered seamanship training in a RAN vessel.
Now a Naval Reserve Cadet Unit, T.S. Paluma is one of 14 such units in Queensland and the only unit in Brisbane. The T.S. Gayundah, located first at the Alice Street Reserve Training Depot, then at the Kangaroo Point Naval Stores Depot and later at Newstead, has been decommissioned and demolished.
TS Paluma transferred its operations from Stafford to Shorncliffe in 2004. The Dolphin Sea Cadets Corps, for those aged under 13 years, operated at Stafford until and is one of eight Queensland Dolphin Units.
*HMS survey vessel Paluma (360 tons) was built by Armstrong Mitchell in Britain and commissioned in September 1884. She was transferred to the Queensland Maritime Defence Force in 1894 and became a gunboat. Following Federation, she was transferred to the Commonwealth in 1904 and then to new Royal Australian Navy in 1911. She served as a training ship at Williamstown, Melbourne during World War I. In 1918, she was sold to the Victorian Ports and Harbour Dept and became the Rip. She was decommissioned in 1949 and broken up in 1950-51.
Description
A two-storey rectangular masonry and timber building, the T.S, Paluma Naval Cadet Hut stands in the northeast corner of Gibson’s Park. The building is remarkable for accommodating a gunnery deck, companionways and other naval equipment, including a Bofors 40 mm gun, to simulate conditions of a naval ship for training purposes.
Statement of significance
Relevant assessment criteria
This is a place of local heritage significance and meets one or more of the local heritage criteria under the Heritage planning scheme policy of the Brisbane City Plan 2014. It is significant because:
References
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Gibson’s Park – T.S. Paluma BCC Conservation Management Study. Site Report 2002
Citation prepared by — Brisbane City Council (page revised September 2020)