"Lena M", the Port River ferryboat: her last trip was made on the day of the opening of the Birkenhead Bridge, December 14th 1940.

Until the Birkenhead Bridge was built in 1940 people wishing to cross the river to the far side were carried in ferries which operated from 1877; assorted small boats operated by licensed watermen had carried passengers across the river for many years prior to that and continued to do so for many years alongside the service offered by the larger powered ferry boats.

The stairs for the ferry were built at the end of Commercial Road and the ferry service was officially launched on 27 October 1877. The ferry was never very profitable but the service remained in place.

The Lena M was launched in 1923 and became the last motor ferry to operate across the river to Birkenhead. Operated by J H Murch and his family it was a double-ended kerosene powered vessel. Fares were a penny (equivalent to a cent) for adults and a halfpenny for children. Initially licensed to carry 120 passengers this was later reduced to 60. By the mid 1930s demand had dropped from 650 monthly tickets to just 68; strikes and the Depression affected demand as did the motor bus service which crossed the Jervois Bridge. Finally the opening of the Birkenhead Bridge removed the need for the ferry service.

Birkenhead Bridge (Birkenhead and Port Adelaide, S. Aust.)

Parsons, Ronald, Ferries and shipyards of early Port Adelaide Murray Bridge [S. Aust.]: Ronald Parsons for Australasian Maritime Historical Society, 2005

Ritter, Ron Spanning time and tide: the bridges of the Port Adelaide River [Para Vista, S.A.]: R.C. Ritter, 1996

Couper-Smartt, John Port Adelaide: tales from a "commodious harbour" Port Adelaide : Friends of the South Australian Maritime Museum, 2003

State Library of South Australia: Mortlock Wing exhibitions. Wooden Walls and Iron Sides August 2004-