[peacock prose] Lady Scott and her four sisters survived the 1932 opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and were converted to diesel power that decade.

In common with most Sydney Harbour ferries at the time, Lady Scott and her four sisters were wooden double-ended screw steamers.

Lady Scott was launched on 4 November at Huskisson and christened by Miss Roderick, daughter of one of the Directors of the Balmain New Ferry Co.[2] The vessel was towed to Sydney to receive her machinery supplied by McKie & Baxter of Glasgow.

Instead, the five would serve on the harbour for at least 60 years, with Lady Scott operating as a ferry until 1969 then as a cruise boat being broken up in 2014.

The five were relatively small and had a veed shape and shallow draft to navigate the muddy and silted upper reaches of their upstream runs.

[1][3] From 1900, the Balmain New Ferry Company began a period of expansion to keep up and compete with the tram network expanding into what is now referred to as Sydney's Inner West.

As part of economy measures, almost older and/or larger steamers were put up for sale, and the five "Lady-class" ferries were converted to diesel power in the 1930s with Lady Chelmsford first.

On 17 December 1937, Lady Scott re-entered service with a six-cylinder 190 hp Gardner diesel that pushed her to 9 knots.

In 1951, with annual patronage down to 9 million, the NSW State Government took over Sydney Ferries Limited and its remaining fleet and assets.

The services and fleet were quickly rationalised with most of the larger remaining timber K-class steamers being decommissioned, however, the five relatively small and economical "Lady-class" ferries were retained.

Their routes were expanded to all inner-harbour (ie, non-Manly) services including Taronga Park Zoo, Milsons Point, Cremorne and Hunters Hill.

Her buyers intended to use her as a cruise ferry on the Hawkesbury River north of Sydney, however, her draught was too deep for that area.

[7] She was converted to a cruise vessel, painted blue and white, fitted with a small high-revving diesel engine, and her aft wheelhouse turned into galley.

She was towed to Hobart with Kosciusko in 1975 to assist following the collapse of the Tasman Bridge however she was found to be in too poor condition and was scrapped.