Some Interesting photo history.

Reading about ships of the Waratah period is not enough and leaves a lot to the readers imagination of what things really looked like. I have put a series of photographs from my personal collection to help readers to understand how things appeared in that period.  (note all photos are copyright and may not be used without my express permission).
We often read about ships carrying coal on deck for extended voyages but never see what coal on the deck really looks like, in this example I have selected two pictures involving the Ropner's tramp steamer Burnby  built in 1905.

About 250 tons on hatch No 1 and 2.

 

            s s Burnby,  Ropners  Steamship Company sank by U boat 39 North of Sardinia 1917.

 

                                  A bunker fire with smoke coming up through bunker grating.

 

 

 

 

         Passengers boarding Lund's ss Commonwealth in London. Note life boats not painted white        also another Lund ship in picture s s Geelong.

 

                              s s Commonwealth leaving London docks with third class passengers.

 

                                                    s s Commonwealth arriving at Adelaide.

        A beautiful ship, sister ship to the Geelong the s s Commonwealth discharging ballast water.

                                 s s City of London often mistaken for the Waratah at sea.
Note the high vents on the fore deck and similar wheelhouse.

In My Next post I shall put up some more interesting pictures of the Waratah period. The s s Commonwealth eventually had her lifeboats painted white at a later stage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waratah

One of the passengers on the first voyage wrote to the press the following.

To the Editor,

Sir, since this vessel arrived in Australian waters the company has raised the price of a pint of ale from 6d to 1s., quarts to 1s 6., and whisky 6d to 8d, Don't you think this is red hot, seeing we are only poor third class- class passengers? By the way, what is the duty the company have to pay in comparison to the extra charge they have put on us? We have been supplied with the cheapest bottled beer to be had in England during the voyage, with the exception of now-we are using a reputable brand, as all the other has run out. Another thing, this vessel is apparently top heavy, and I consider she's dangerous, as the way she rolled since leaving Capetown is a fair caution. Over 80 dozen glasses have been broken alone, besides other gear in proportion, Yours etc a third class passenger. It's interesting to note that Mr Skailes the chief steward received a percentage of all beers and spirits sold, no doubt he had his hands out on this one.

 

 

Beers of the period.

 

WARATAH AND HER FREEBOARD.

 

Waratah had a free board of 8 feet which was assigned to her by Lloyds and considered high enough above water level for a ship of her dimensions. The calculation of freeboard is a complex one worked out by the naval architects that made up the board in authority such as Lloyds and the Board of Trade. It would not matter if her freeboard had have been slightly higher she would have still shipped green water at some stage. Some ships have open rails on the lower well decks which help greatly in green water shipped running off quickly. The Waratah had plated bulwarks 4feet 2inches high instead of open railings. These bulwarks had three wash ports on either side of the well decks to allow the water shipped  to run off through, as well as scupper pipes to help the final draining of the water. These wash ports consisted of swinging hinged steel flaps that opened outward to let the water off the deck. They measured 3feet 6inches wide by 1foot 6inches high.

 

 

                                     A wash port with a ring bolt to hold it open if need be. 

 

One ship I was on had high bulwarks with wash ports and every time we shipped green water the well deck would fill up and before the wash ports could clear the amount of water shipped, another one would come over and you could feel the ship labouring and trying to rise to the sea with the extra weight, this was because they had not been maintained properly and did not open fully, they were partly frozen on their hinges. I took photos of the seas over the deck and when I returned to our home port I complained to the marine superintendent that it was dangerous and we could lose a man overboard, not only that, the ship was slowed up and straining and using far to much fuel according to the engineer and putting our E.T.A behind. In shipping time is money, thankfully he saw the problem and went back to head office to report our complaints. He appeared the next day and we decided remove the wash ports completely and weld three evenly spaced bars across the now new openings to prevent a man being washed through the open ports. Evidently the bean counters at head office didn't like the idea of extra fuel costs never mind about the added weight we had to struggle with or the poor bugger that might be swept overboard.. Eventually it proved worth while and the ship seemed a bit easier to handle and less strain on her. I believe according to the engineers figures the fuel bill over a year was reduced by at least 3%,

not a bad saving dollar wise.

With the Waratah and her forward well deck,  if she shipped green water and was unable to get it to run off before the next wave came over she would be weighed down by 250 tons of water by calculation, and this is with the cubic volume of the large hatch coaming subtracted. She was hard to steer under  favourable circumstances, can you imagine the after well deck filling up at the same time, I would say she would have been close to un-manageable steering wise. She had enough buoyancy when leaving Durban according to her draught, and she was no where down to her load her load line rated at 30 feet 4/2 inches.

 

            Open rails, water managing to run off more freely than a ship with plated bulwarks.

 

                                                               Open ships railings.

 

Let us now take a look at a larger ship than the Waratah with a much higher freeboard, the Aquitania was a large ship in her day with a very high freeboard  and she measured 901 feet long by 97 feet beam with a draught of 36 feet.

 

                                                  Aquitania with a very high freeboard.

 

                                                  Aquitania burying her bows into it. 

 

                        Aquitania getting rid of a green one , note the wash port at lower left of photo. 

 

It is interesting to note that the Clan Macintyre 2 during the storm had to open her gangway gates on her bulwarks to help get rid of some of the green water she was shipping.

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                

  

A rather insulting email .

To my Readers,
from all the many emails I receive on a daily basis regarding shipping matters and also the ss Waratah, I can honestly say I am disgusted by the one sent by Andrew Van Rensberg whom I have on the odd  occasion  pointed out mistakes (obvious ones) in some of his blogs. It reads as follows,
So glad your health is improving. MOLE, who is a female yes, has her own blog, MOLE'S GENEOLOGY BLOG. When the bickering is all said and done and I am unilaterally put in my place by an EXPERT, take a moment to read MOLE'S posts. They are informative accurate and most importantly an example of how to set the bar high. We can all learn from this,...... enough for now, back to my task of 'sweeping statements and feeding the public incorrect figures. Take care.

A lot of people are aware of your figures etc, Having insulted me privately Andrew, you start sending me emails about my earlier blogs being complimentary and now in public in your blogs, you are praising my posts in an acclamatory manner a far cry from earlier comments in the public forum, calling me a spoilsport, agreeing with MOLE that I am a nit picker. Attack is always a good means of defence when you are made aware of your short comings. However I shall continue to write on with good grace and dignity , but in the meantime  I would like to point out that I do not wish to have my name used in your posts in future for whatever means, or to be associated with  you in way whatsoever.   Captain S. J. Robinson.
To those that follow my posts I will be posting this week once again, and have some interesting articles lined up for you, and thank you to those of you that have offered kind words of support.
     

Top heavy ships, add some ketledge.

 

Ketledge, usually comes in the form of pig iron billets and was often used as ballast in larger ships. Ballast comes in many forms and did so before the introduction of water ballast in early steamships. Sand , mud, rocks, and foundry dross were often used but the effort of loading it and discharging it by shovel was costly and time consuming on ships wishing to spend less time in port. I was not aware of foundry dross until I spent some time on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic Ocean. During my stay en-route to South America. I became friendly with one of the local inhabitants who brought to me one day what appeared to look like a piece of clinker (hardened ash or partly burnt coal) from a ships furnace.  It had speckles of what I thought was brass in it and the local thought it was gold and it was very heavy for its size about 5 inches in diameter and 1inch thick. We took a hacksaw to it and found more of the shiny metal was right throughout . He told me that he was diving and came across a massive patch of it in amongst some old ships timbers, he also produced some heavy copper fastening bolts. It was now obvious that he had found and early shipwreck, and naturally kept the spot to himself. I was very curious as to what the clinker could be and at his request would I take a sample with me to determine what it was. This I duly did this and after eventually arriving in England on my way home, took it a marine archaeologist who informed me that it was dross from a foundry that probably  cast bronze cannons and fittings for early sailing ships and was used as a heavy ballast in wooden vessels. The main content in the dross was bronze and I duly messaged my friend on the island and he  replied that he was going to salvage the remainder for the bronze content as scrap metal. This was my first lesson in unusual ketledge as I knew it.  

 

                                                   Unstable M.V. Rangitiki.

The M.V. Rangitiki was a New Zealand  passenger ship one of three in the same class, launched on the 29th of August 1928 ,on sea trials she was found to be unstable in ballast. Before her maiden voyage was undertaken some topside weight was removed. Modifications were made which included the removal of two sets of Samson posts, (Strong pillars fixed to the deck for the support of ships derricks). On the 31st of January 1929 she was taken over by her owners and set sail for New Zealand on February 15th 1929 taking 5 weeks for the voyage. During the 1st voyage stability problems were still found to exist and on her return to England she underwent further alterations. These consisted of removing most of the bridge structure including the associated deck, shortening of her two funnels and the installation of additional permanent ballast. After this the ship went on until scrapped in 1962. 

                                                        Rangitki with high funnels.

                                                  Rangitiki with cut down funnels.

 

The ss Imperator.

On her sea trials stability issues were discovered but she still sailed on her maiden voyage from Germany to New York on the 10th of June 1913. On her arrival at New York the pilot Captain George Seeth noted that the ship listed from side to side when helm changes were made to her change of direction. It wasn't until October 1913 that the Imperator  was returned to the ship yard that built her to have alterations made to improve her stability which was caused by her centre of gravity being to high. The marble bathrooms in 1st class were removed along with all heavy furniture and replaced with light cane furniture. Her funnels were reduced by 9.8 feet (3metres) and 2,000 tons of concrete were poured into her double bottoms as fixed ballast.

I

 

                                   Imperator (leaning Lizzie docking at New York.

 

                                            A true birds eye view of the Imperator.

The ss Principessa Iolanda.

The ss Principessa Iolanda was launched in Italy at 12.25 pm on the 22nd of September 1907 and was almost at the completion stage. After leaving the slipway the ship became unstable and heeled over to port. Some 20 minutes later the vessel began taking in water (Downloading) through open ports. She eventually capsized and lay at 90 degrees. There were many errors caused during her launching but the main error seems to be launching an almost complete ship without ballast, it was denied that it was due to her design.

                                                      ss Principessa Iolander

                                                     Launching in progress.

                                                                 Starting to take water.

At rest at 90 degrees, could you imagine the Waratah recovering from this with cargo on board that would have shifted in heavy seas along with water rushing in through her vents and openings. It would appear beyond any shadow of doubt that in this case the righting lever (GZ) is no longer apparent. Hope the men in the picture are not looking for it.(please excuse my sense of humour). Readers can view Wikipedia for information on the three ships mentioned here.

 

                                                   A comment on stability.

You can play around with all the figures on the stability of the Waratah but I am convinced that not all the true figures were not  put into the public arena, if she was such a wonderful stable ship what happened to her? It is impossible to thoroughly determine the stability of any particular ship using commonly published specifications. It must be remembered that stability is so complex and influenced by so many factors that even professional ship designers find it hard to quantify. Before computers were available the calculations involved were so complicated that certain aspects of stability were only estimated rather than accurately determined. When reading the figures on the Waratahs stability presented to the court this is what precisely happened. In this present age of computers doing the workload on numbers, stability calculations are one of the most trying tasks the naval architect has to contend with and perform.   

  

 

 

                                                                      .

 

 



To the many readers that follow my blogs.

Thank you to all those readers for their lovely get well emails. I have had a spell in the sick bay but my doctor assures me that I am not ready to pass over the bar just yet. It is so nice to be back on deck and  in the relative comfort of my quarters once again. To those readers that sent emails regarding information on ships in general and also queries on the Waratah, I have cut back my work load but will get around to answering you in the near future. To those of you  requesting information as to where you can find information on the Court of Marine Inquiry, there is a 23 page annex to the full report of the ss Waratah available on line. I must remind you however it is only a short annexure but will give you some interesting reading on the case. The full report is held at the Guild hall in London and is a very lengthy document indeed. If you go to Google and type in "Wreck report for Waratah', 1909-Port Cities Southampton you will bring it up, (the short annexure only).

 

During my absence I have evidently been a naughty boy for pointing out some of the mistakes that Andrew Van Rensberg has posted in some of his blogs, especially a recent blog "Waratah continued part 8". Readers can refer to the comments on this blog and make up their own minds. One blog which I have taken exception to was posted by a female who blogs under the name Mole, in her blog she had the following to say to me. "Pointless having a go at Andrew who is producing an informative and unbiased blog for our delectation and delight. If anyone wants to take issue with the nuts and bolts of the stats, fine. There is such a thing as nit picking. Anyway we're all on the same side- that is the Waratah- aren't we"?
My answer is yes Mole, and in reply to your arrogant response we are on the same side when it comes to the Waratah, nit picking as you call it has saved many lives at sea, someone has to take issue with loose nuts and bolts otherwise everything comes loose and eventually falls apart. If my constructive criticism is seen as nit picking so be it, the public is entitled to correct information and there is no room for loose nuts and bolts. I will not see readers fed incorrect figures or sweeping statements thrown around loosely on nautical matters whatever the ship being discussed, (near enough is not good enough).

To my dedicated readers, my next blog will be on stability in a form you will readily understand, until then once again thank you for your good wishes.

                                Myself Conducting ships business in Beira Mozambique 1992 

Transported like cattle on the s.s. Waratah.

 

On the arrival of the s.s Waratah in Melbourne at Victoria dock on the 18th of January 1908, the ship was met by a brave reporter who had been alerted from Adelaide that some passengers had taken legal action against the Lund Line for the poor and unsanitary conditions as well as the overcrowding they had to endure. The reporter went fore and aft eager to try and interview as many passengers as possible. A spokesman for the passengers said we were induced to book on this ship owing to the glowing advertisements inserted in the English newspapers. The steamer has only first and third class accommodation, and it was persistently stated that its "thirds" (cabins) were equal to "seconds" on any ordinary liner. She could comfortably carry 130 passengers in first class saloons, and 300 in her third class compartments. For that number the space allotted to in cabins and public rooms, and saloons is on a GENEROUS SCALE, but what is ample for those people is insanitary and suffocating for 700 or more. The company may not have expected such a rush of passengers, which included many emigrants assisted by the New South Wales Government, but whether they did or not doesn't matter. They accepted double the number they had accommodation and provisions for-pocketing the extra fares, which amount to 17 pounds apiece, with the result we suffered. After we were out two or three days we found the food supply insufficient. 

 

The stewards were also few in number, this occasioning inattention and lack of supervision. A deputation confronted Captain Ilbery and he tried to do the best he could. Some stowaways were discovered and a number of them were pressed into service as stewards, whilst passengers who would lend a hand were promised 2 pounds reward on arrival in Sydney,(they refused the offer,  in my new book I deal with this in full). The water was doled out very sparingly, the tea and coffee were very indifferent. Owing to the inadequate flushing  the urinal closets (toilet bowls) got into a terrible condition by the time we reached Capetown. The food supply was not good, and the sugar ran out, the puddings were unsweetened, as was the undrinkable tea. Fresh meat was a rarity, and greasy water was served up as soup. As to sleeping, ten men were huddled up in a space 10feet x 10feet x 8feet. There were no portholes in many of the compartments, and when crossing the line (Equator) the heat and discomfort endured was very great. Owing to the want of sufficient flushing water closets and urinals many men utilised one of the coal bunkers for the call of nature, but ultimately the coal bunker was eventually cleared out, and the erstwhile impromptu lavatory was converted to a dining room. Those poor trimmers were shovelling more than coal. As regards bathrooms, only doubtful water was supplied, and people could actually see the bathers from the top deck.

 

There were many women and children on board including about 30 girls who were being indented as domestic helps, over them was a deplorable want of supervision. In the stern there was an ill-ventilated compartment dubbed an "isolation hospital", its only ventilation was two port holes, one man died there during the voyage. (There were other deaths on board which I have included in my book with the official log book entries in connection with them), another man was on board the crowded ship was in the last stages of consumption. As regards the smokeroom, it was often unbearably crowded. It won't hold more than a couple of dozen, if comfort is studied, but sometimes there were fifty jammed into it. At the bar men were drunk and the permanent saloon often became a rowdy tap room,(PUB). The presence of women and children was totally disregarded by those who used bad language while "under the influence". Concerts were held occasionally, but there was not room for half the passengers. We do not blame the captain or his officers, who did the best they could under the circumstances. It is the shipping company we blame, who for the sake of a few hundred pounds in extra fares treated at least 750 people as we assert. Such is the substance of the complaints made by the third class passengers. The discomforts suffered are proverbial, and in an overcrowded vessel such sufferings must be intensified. The authorities upon board ship look upon  the whole genus of passengers as born growlers, but in this case the passengers think they have a reason to growl.

 

The plucky reporter gave publicity to the growl, as he was duty bound in the public interest, and leaves the statement for the consideration of his readers. While on board he inspected portions of the ship complained of, and what he saw as to accommodation and overcrowding fully bore out the passengers statements. The passengers were limited to a justifiable compliment, but under the extraordinary conditions on which the Waratah was permitted to make her maiden voyage the large dining room' had an adjunct the unsavoury coal bunker, (spar deck,) and the smoking room was a diminutive farce. An inspection of the closets and urinals showed them to be in a dirty condition , as alleged. The question suggests itself: is there no supervising authority in England to see steamers are not allowed to be overcrowd in such a shocking way, and inflict discomfort on the unfortunate passengers, besides, perhaps endangering life in the case of a disaster? The Board of Trade was the responsible authority and their servant Captain Clarke passed the ship as a suitable emigrant ship just as he passed the lifeboats as fit for service for the maiden voyage. 

 

                                                                           s.s. Waratah.

 

                                       No room for deck chairs with these 3rd class emigrants. 

 

 

 



The harlow evidence De-Bunked why?

The evidence given by Captain Bruce at the inquiry was dismissed by the Commissioner and his assessors due to a number of reasons, the main ones being that his chief officer did not agree with Captain Bruce and said "they were bushfires", he also went on to say, "that  if there had have been a ship on fire she would have been sending up distress rockets". The fact that Captain Bruce made no attempts to verify what he had seen and also that he made no report of his observations when arriving in Durban or during his stay, yet on the internet he is described as making enquiries about overdue ships. It is also on the internet  that he and  his officers failed to assist a ship in distress and conspired to do so by making all sorts of excuses in order not to turn about and go to the supposed ship on fire. Nothing could be further from the truth when closely questioned at the hearing as to why he did not report the event in Durban he replied that he did not do so for fear of being mistaken. This indicates that he was still unsure after a conversation with his officers wether it was a ship or not, I believe that if he was convinced it was a ship he would have turned about to assist,  he was presented some years earlier with a bravery medal for saving life at sea  which was mentioned at the hearing so he was not the sort of man to sail away and leave some one to die at sea. Captain Bruce said that on the 27th of July at about 5.30pm, just on dark he was 12 to 14 mile south of Cape Hermes when he noticed black smoke about 15 miles astern of him in the Coffee Bay area and saw two white lights which he  took to be masthead lights one above the other of a ship and also a red port light and it appeared to him to be a ship on fire moving rapidly up the coast.  Bruce himself was coasting, sailing close into the coast visually at about 1.5 to 2.0 miles off the beach and the alleged ship seemed to be more or further out to sea. If this was the case her masthead lights would have been open to the left of his starboard quarter, if she was dead astern of him the lights would appear in line one above the other, and if closer into the shore than his own ship they would have been open to the right on his port quarter but Bruce makes mention of either. The opening and closing of masthead lights at night gives the officer of the watch an indication of a ships heading. During the first world war some companies had one mast removed from their ships in order to not show a submarine if the ship changes course making it difficult for the sub captain to calculate a course to intercept the ship and put him into a position to sink the ship. Here we are talking about an unlit mast and only visible against a night sky line to the sub. 

 

Let us look at some critical questions and put the Harlow story to bed for once and all.

1. Why didn't Captain Ilbery put down lifeboats with the passengers close into shore if he had a raging fire on board this would have been his first duty towards their safety?

2.If the ship was on fire off Coffee Bay or that part of the coast why was it not reported at a later date by any white settlers in the area or local natives.

2. At what stage or point off the coast  did the s.s Waratah turn back on her course to Cape Town?

3.What could have caused a raging fire in a few short hours after leaving Durban, it could not have been the valves near the boilers because these would have been seen to when she was  docked for seven weeks in London after the first voyage.? 

4. It could not have been spontaneous combustion of wool, because this would have been noticed either before Durban by regular hold checks by an officer checking the cargo and lashings, and also when the hatches were opened up in Durban to discharge cargo.

5.A possible way a fire could have started in a hold would have been caused by the friction of metals in the hold setting fire to the timbers carried, or possibly the steel bands on the casks of tallow rubbing against each other with the motion of the ship and waves, and thereby generating enough heat to set the wooden staves of the barrel on fire then the tallow and eventually spreading to other cargo such as wool and timber.

6.Why did Captain Bruce assume the alleged ship was the Waratah? he could not possibly have known what ship it was because he had just crossed the Southern Ocean to South Africa on his way to Durban for coaling.

7. If there was an alleged ship behind the Harlow, why did it not attempt to signal the Harlow as it drew closer to the Harlow or fire of rockets to attract attention, a good lookout on the Harlow  would have soon spotted them.  Any captain with a ship on fire would be glad of any help he could get especially the unloading of his passengers and have the ship stand by until a solution one way or another could be found to his predicament. There would have been enough room aboard the Harlow for 211 persons.

8.Captain Bruce mentions the speed of the alleged ship was between 12 and 14 knots coming up fast behind him, how could he judge such speeds in the dark without the use of radar? any officer on watch will tell you it is difficult to judge distance at night and speed unless the ship is on a broad angle and regular bearings taken at say five minute intervals and plotted, one is then able to plot her course and speed a method relied on without the use of radar.

9.One writer wrote the ship was on fire because of the thick black smoke coming out of her funnel, when a steam ship is making thick black smoke from her funnel it is not because she is on fire but simply means the stokers were laying a few on her, (shovelling large amounts of coal into the furnaces to build up speed) or blowing tubes, (cleaning out the boiler tubes of excess soot), I have done this on many occasions during  my long years at sea.

10. Captain Bruce did say that he could not see any other lights to indicate it was a passenger ship, it was not only large passenger ships that carried two masthead lights but also cargo ships over 150ft in length, the mast lights in that period had to be visible for 5 miles with the aft mast light being 15ft higher than the foremast with the red and green sidelights to be visible for 2miles.

11. At 7.30pm the Harlow was abeam of Cape Hermes light and altered course more to the east for his run up the coast to Durban, at 8.0pm he came out from the charthouse and saw to red flares ups one about 300feet high and one about 1,000 feet high roughly about six miles astern of his ship, which he thought was bunkers exploding. After that he could not see the alleged ship which he estimated to be in Latitude 31degrees 38minutes south

Longitude 29degrees 35 minutes east, this is 1.5 miles due east of Cape Hermes light or in the mouth of the St Johns River.

12.It is said that the Waratah sank 7.8 miles north east of Cape Hermes, if this is the case that puts the alleged Waratah ahead of the Harlow, the Harlow would have only been 4.5 miles north east of the Cape Hermes light at 8.00pm after altering course at 7.30pm and doing 9knots, the alleged Waratah could not have possibly have been so far north at 8.00pm.

13. The position given by Bruce puts the said ship right under the nose of the lighthouse yet the light keepers neither saw or heard anything in the way of an explosion, this is excused by a writer saying the smoke from the bushfires would have obscured the keepers view, I doubt this being only 1.5 miles from the ship yet Bruce being 4.5 miles away could see the flare ups. If a ship had have been that close to the light he would have certainly sent up rockets at one minute intervals which would have been the prescribed white rockets by the Board of Trade, these rockets were white on their way up through the air and exploding loudly bursting open like a roman candle with white balls. they would not have been red rockets as claimed on the internet. Why didn't any one in the St Johns river settlement see a ship on fire they would have been close enough to see a ship on fire at sea.

14. I don't believe captain Bruce saw a ship perhaps he saw bush fires racing up the sides of hills at different heights, with regards to the white lights he may have been suffering from a medical complaint such as diabetes which can affect the eye sight. Perhaps he saw a star low in the sky or a light on the land which turned into two lights due to double vision which he thought were masthead lights. This condition can also be caused alcohol intoxication, cataracts of the eyes, smoking, sleep deprivation and strained eye muscles as well as  fatigue.

15. If there was a ship so close in  to Cape Hermes, surely with all the modern marine technology of today  why hasn't a wreck been discovered there?, for example trawlers in the area may have snagged nets on an underwater obstruction or located it on their sonar. Local recreation fisherman would have soon located it as it would have formed an artificial reef for fish that would thrive on the rich nutrients being flushed down the St Johns River. Why haven't  Navy ships found a wreck when surveying that part of the coast over the years?, and with the amount of scientific surveys carried out along that part of the coast it is a wonder they haven't also come across a wreck 1.5 miles or thereabouts near Cape Hermes not north of it.

 

                                                       Coffee Bay looking Northwards.

 

                                Entrance to St Johns River from the Cape Hermes Lighthouse.

 

                    Cape Hermes Light House 1908, Note keeper at the focal plane of the light.

 

           Ships in Durban Harbour Rafted together, ship second from the right could be the Harlow.

 

     Small cross alleged wreck, arrowed line Harlow's track, Large cross Harlow's  position at 8.00pm.

 

 

 

 

  

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After the Waratah the s.s. Ballarat.

 

The P&O company purchased four ships from the Blue Anchor Line in February 1910 when the company went into Liquidation after losing their flag ship Waratah with all souls in July 1909, she just simply vanished off the South African coast without trace. The P&O Company set about ordering five new ships to join the four just purchased and was to call the new service the branch line service. All the new ships would be named after Australian towns or cities that began with the letter B. The branch line service was  required to operate separately from the other P&O ships and had to carry white crews because the Australian regulations stipulated they must do so. The first ship to be launched was the s.s. Ballarat named after the gold rush town by the same name in central Victoria later to become the city of Ballarat. The Ballarat carried the Blue  Anchor funnel colours as a mark of respect for a couple of years then changed to the all black funnel of the P&O Company. Launched on the 3rd of September 1911 at the cost of 176,000 pounds she had the following dimensions,

Length 500feet 2inches x breadth 69feet 9inches x depth 37feet 8inches with a draught fully loaded of 31feet 8inches. Her tonnage was 11,120 gross  with a net tonnage of 7,055 she was powered by 2 quadruple expansion steam engines with 9,000 indicated horsepower giving her a service speed of 14knots with twin propellers. Passenger capacity was 302 permanent one class, and 750 steerage in temporary quarters.

On the 25th April 1917 the Ballarat  was torpedoed by the German submarine UB 32 24 miles south from Wolf Rock in the English channel. She was sailing as the H.M . Ambulance transport A70 on a voyage from Melbourne to London with Australian troops and a cargo of copper, antimony, ore, and gold bullion along with general cargo. She was hit in the starboard propeller and the hull was smashed in that area, the hull started to flood and also the engine room but she took some time to sink. In the meantime the 1,752 persons on board safely evacuated the ship in a most orderly manner. Some general cargo and gold believed to be thirteen thousand bars were salvaged between 1956 and 1985 by a vessel the MV Driver Protector.

                                                                       S.S BALLARAT.

                             S.S. Ballarat in  same berth the Waratah used on many occasions.

                                          S.S. Ballarat slowly sinking, note life boats lowered.

                                                   

S. S. Ballarat,  men taking to the lifeboats.

 

 

 

 

 

Waratah Snippets.

On the second voyage of the s.s. Waratah homeward bound for London it was observed between Adelaide and Durban by passengers Mr. Claude Sawyer and Mr. Ebsworth a former merchant navy officer, that the Waratah tended to bury her bow into oncoming seas in calm weather and ship water for no apparent reason. It has been suggested that there being no external factors causing this it was due to her being overloaded, this was not the case as she was not overloaded. The Waratah did the same thing on her maiden voyage out and it was noticed  by a number of passengers. On the first voyage out in November 1908 a Mrs J Paton from West Australia in the course of a conversation with a news reporter, stated that the ship did not impress the passengers very favourably. She said, "the ship rolled more than any other vessel I have travelled in, and I have had a fairly extensive and wide experience". Asked if the rolling was discussed among the other passengers she said "yes". "At times the rolling of the ship occasioned some alarm even to seasoned sailors working the ship, and one gentleman discussed the matter with one of the engineers who explained it away by saying the vessel had not found her sea legs yet". Mrs Paton said "there was no rough weather  but there was a good heavy swell running most of the time".  "On several occasions when we were sitting on the deck in fine weather the vessel gave an unexpected lurch to one side, causing everyone to slide down the deck until we were brought up against the railings. Same thing happened on the second voyage when Miss Lascelle broke her arm against the rail. She appeared very slow in recovering herself, and the seas which were running did not appear to be sufficient to account for the ships behaviour. I went to South Africa on a White Star liner, and could not help contrasting the violent motion of the Waratah with the steadiness of the vessel on which I had previously travelled. On the way out there were deck games almost every day, but we seldom had any on the Waratah owing to the motion of the vessel.  The Waratah also had a knack of dipping her bows into the seas instead of riding them, with the result that in a head sea the propellers were constantly racing. I remember a much travelled New Zealander was very fervid in expressing the hope that we should not encounter any really bad weather in the Waratah, because he had a very poor opinion of her qualities. Personally I am not a nervous sailor, but owing to the general feeling of uneasiness which prevailed on board the vessel I was not sorry when I reached port". 

                                             

                                          MORE RUMORS OF GOLD ON THE WARATAH. 

 

In his recent blog Andrew Van Rensberg claimed that 105 tons of gold was loaded in Sydney with just over 2 tons of silver. There are no official records whatsoever of the Waratah carrying gold and silver, and if there had have been it would have been well publicised. In 1909 gold production had slumped to an all time low. For that year only 85.92 tons were recovered and of this, up until the 31st   of July 1909 only, 32.56 tons was recovered. For the whole year only 44.5 tons of gold was exported. I fail to see how 105 tons of gold was exported on the Waratah. For the whole year of 1909 only 4.9 tons in total of silver was exported. As a matter of interest the s.s. Pericles of the Aberdeen Line left Melbourne on June the 24th with 50 thousand pounds worth gold for South Africa which was shipped by the Bank of Australia. Most gold shipments went by the main carrier the P&O Company along with the Union Castle line, and the White Star line. The Waratah did not pick up any gold in Durban but what is interesting, is that largest shipment of gold ever taken out of South Africa was shipped aboard the Union Castle liner the Kidonan Castle. The gold arrived in Southampton  in August 1909, the value being, 1,143,271 pounds, also on board the ship was a Mr Claude Sawyer who  left the Waratah in Durban because feared she was top heavy and would not stand rough weather.  

 

                                                                     s.s.  WARATAH. 

 

                                  s. s. WARATAH, with casks of tallow waiting to be loaded. 

 

                 s.s. KILDONAN CASTLE, note pilot ladder hasn't been taken in before berthing.

 

                       s.s. KILDONAN CASTLE, leaving DURBAN  with a slight list to port. 

The Loss of the s.s. Geelong.

 

The former Blue Anchor Line steamship the s.s. Geelong was sold to the P&O Company along with three other ships in 1910 when the Lund Company went into liquidation after the tragic loss of their flagship the s.s. Waratah off the South African coast in 1909. At the outbreak of World war one, the Geelong was taken over by the Australian Commonwealth Government as a troop transport carrier and was known as the H.M.A.T Geelong and assigned the carrier number A2. On the 1st of January 1916 at 7.15 pm the Geelong was rammed in the dark by the s.s. Bonvilston 2,866 Grt. According to the crew of the Geelong the ship was proceeding in the Mediterranean Sea bound for London with a general cargo which included tea but the bulk of the cargo consisted mainly of lead for the war effort. The weather at the time was calm and at 7.15pm it was very dark, the Geelong was steaming without lights so as to avoid submarine detection on the surface. The lookout failed to see the ship the s.s. Bonvilston which loomed up out of the darkness at full speed striking the Geelong amidships at a 90 degree angle. Such was the force of the impact that the Geelong heeled over and was rendered in a sinking position with a gaping hole in her port side. The Bonvilston went astern and stood off some distance away checking her own damage. The wireless operator on the Geelong immediately transmitted the S.O.S signal "we have been torpedoed". The wireless operator corrected this message once it was realised they had been hit by a ship and requested assistance. The watertight doors down below had been closed up well before the collision and helped her to stay afloat until she sank about one hour later.

All six lifeboats aboard the Geelong were kept swung out and at the ready in case of a submarine attack, these were launched at once with all the crew making it into the boats safely some still in their night attire. The lifeboats began to fill up with water at once owing to the fact that the timbers had dried out and the water came in rapidly through the seams causing the crews to bail  the boats out in a furious manner. The Bonvilston with her bows badly crushed bent and twisted was found not be in any danger of sinking due to the fact her collision bulkhead saved her. The crew of the Bonvilston eventually assisted the Geelong crew in getting aboard  she then made her way to her destination, the  port of Alexandria where she arrived  the next day. From Alexandria the Geelong crew made their way to Port Said where they split up with the British part of the crew leaving for London and the Australian members of the crew returning to Australia on the P&O liner s.s. Medina. There were 16 Australian crew members on the Geelong,  9 from  Adelaide, 5 from Melbourne and 2 from Sydney  all arriving safely home. The Bonvilston was on a voyage from Suvla Bay to Alexandria and had taken part in the evacuation of soldiers from Gallipoli and carrying supplies. The Bonvilston was built in 1893 for Thomas Radcliffe & Company of Cardiff  and was launched as the Anthony Radcliffe. In 1908 she was sold to Douglas Hill Steamship Company and renamed the Bonvilston. She was later torpedoed on the 17th of October 1918 by the submarine U92.

A claim was made by the Commonwealth for damages and was heard by a Mr. Justice Bailhache's  who found in favour of the Commonwealth by judging it to be a marine peril. This was appealed and in the appeal Court the Master of the Rolls delivered a judgment which held that the Bonvilston which collided with the Commonwealth liner Geelong in January1916, was engaged in a warlike operation in connection with the evacuation of Gallipoli. Therefore, the sinking was owing to a war risk, not a marine risk. Justices Warrington and Scrutton concurred in the judgment. The appeal against Mr. Justice Bailhache's decision was dimissed. 

                                            s.s. Bonvilston which sank the s.s. Geelong .

                                                                             s.s. Geelong.

                                 s.s Geelong leaving Hobart Australia with troops for Egypt.

                            s.s. Medina P&O ship which brought Geelong's crew back to Australia. 



The uncharted rock that did not exist.

                                   The loss of the s.s. Pericles near Cape Leeuwin West Australia.

The s.s. Pericles of the Aberdeen Line on the 31st of March 1910 when rounding Cape Leeuwin in Western Australia struck what was alleged to be an uncharted rock or obstruction resulting in her sinking without loss of life.

The s.s. Pericles was the latest addition to the Aberdeen Line and was under the command of Captain Alexander Simpson Commodore of the line, and a veteran of more than 80 voyages to Australia, he was also a friend of Captain Ilbery Commodore of the Blue Anchor Line and in command of the s.s. Waratah which disappeared in 1909. The Pericles had dimensions of 500 feet x beam 62 feet 3inches x depth 32 feet. She was fitted with 2 quadruple steam expansion engines and was built by Harland and Wolf of Belfast in 1907 at a cost 240,000 pounds and had a service speed of 14 knots. Pericles left Melbourne for London on the 24th of March 1910 after being delayed for three days by a coal strike. She carried a substantial cargo of 32,000 boxes of butter, 35,000 carcases of frozen mutton, 6,000 bales of wool hides, 3,000 cases of apples loaded in Hobart of which 500 cases were carried on deck. 25 tons of tallow and coconut oil, 600 tons of lead bullion, plus other sundries. The Pericles was laden to the extent that her forward draught was 27 feet 6inches and her aft draught was 26 feet 3 inches which meant she was heavy or down by the bow 1foot 3inches (badly trimmed which could effect her steering). The vessel and cargo was insured for 750,000 pounds, of which one third was for the ship, the other two thirds was for cargo 90,000 pounds of this was for butter alone.

 

In the late afternoon of the 31st of March the Pericles was steaming along at 14 knots when she struck rocks slowing her down to 8 knots, she hit hard tearing her bottom open for some considerable length and started to settle by the bow. Realizing she was sinking Captain Simpson ordered the ship to be abandoned, the seas at the time where calm, 238 passengers and 163 crew took to the boats which landed on a beach at a spot were the light house keepers indicated as being safe by marking the area with bonfires.  Captain Simpson claimed that he and his officers fixed the ships position earlier and claimed he was on a safe course, he also claimed that the ship eventually sank in 26 to 27 fathoms of water. At the subsequent court of inquiry conducted in Freemantle a finding on the 14th of April 1910 Captain Simpson was  exonerated of all blame. This caused a storm of protest in some quarters claiming that the inquiry was unsatisfactory and that it was a whitewash. The inquiry was held before Mr. E.P Dowley, Esq, Mr. W.A. Walter, Esq (both Magistrates), they were assisted by Captain Laurie and Captain F.L Parkes (assessors).  The first outcry was against Captain Laurie who should not have been on the inquiry due to a conflict of interest. Objection was made because Captain Laurie had business relations with the Aberdeen line in the capacity of a stevedore. Captain Laurie started his own stevedoring company in Freemantle in 1890, he was also Chairman of the Fremantle Harbour Board and had many dealings with Captain Simpson, on top of this he was accused of holding the monopoly on stevedoring by other companies in Freemantle. It was believed he showed partiality towards Captain Simpson and it was most undesirable for him to be acting in a judicial capacity at the inquiry affecting the professional reputation of Captain Simpson. Similar instances have been shown to take place in other inquiries. One in particular, is the inquiry into the loss of the Waratah which involved two naval architects.

Many witnesses not at the inquiry stated that the Pericles was to close to the shore and not on a safe course. The s.s. Strathfillan passed the Pericles off White Rocks opposite White Cliff. The captain of the Stathfillan was leaving the bridge when the third mate drew his attention to the fact that the Pericles was dangerously close  inshore, the Starathfillan was eight miles offshore and the Pericles to be four or more miles inside of him.

Mr. Charles Ryan a third class passenger stated, "after coming ashore by lifeboat we spent the night at Flinders Bay until relief reached us. The residents at Flinders bay expressed amazement at the Pericles course so near inshore and to use their own words", "gave her ten minutes before getting smashed up" and actually went down to the beach to watch the spectacle. "The local residents were sure it was Bevan reef which the ship struck". It is said that no vessels small or large ever come within 10 miles of where the Pericles struck, (Sailing directions recommend to ships rounding Leeuwin to leave a margin of 15miles). Captain Airy of the Government vessel s.s. Penguin was given the task of locating the exact position of the wreck. Captain Airy informed the Court that he searched over a radius of  3 to 5miles away from the shore,  at the start of the search and finding no traces of the wreck he decided to work closer inshore. The vessel was located by the mate of the Penguin who was searching in a smaller boat. Soundings were taken, and it was ascertained the wreck was lying in 18 fathoms of water not the 26 to 27 fathoms that  Captain Simpson had claimed. The wreck was laying E.S.E, and its position was fixed from the lighthouse bearing N 3degrees E (magnetic), with a distance of 2.6 miles from the light. Captain Simpson admitted in court that he wanted to signal the lighthouse by flags to notify Fremantle that he would require 150 tons of coal on arrival. In order for his flags to be seen he would have to have been about 3 miles off the light.

 

A number of passengers seem to have been alarmed at the nearness of the land both on the Tasmanian Coast and from Albany West Australia onwards. One passenger Mr. Hirman Florack stated he noticed a disposition to hug the coast and said " he would be glad to get to the end of the voyage if ever he did". Passengers Mr. and Mrs Fewster said " they thought the cause of the disaster was the ships officers were trying to make up time after the delay at Melbourne, and kept hugging the coast too closely". Another passenger who wanted to give evidence was told by Captain Irvine the Chief Government Harbour Master who practically Poo-Poohed the idea of him giving evidence, and declined him simply because he was not a nautical man, and therefore in his opinion not competent to estimate distance on water. One passenger travelling third class was a master mariner and refused to give any opinion on the matter what so ever. Obviously if he had have spoken out against the ship his future employment could well have been at stake if not a black ban imposed against him.

 

On the 8th of December 1910 the survey ship H.M.S Fantone searched for four days in an exhaustive  search and revealed no dangers outside of those charted existed. This information was then transmitted to the Board of Trade in London. Settlers along the coast were picking up boxes of butter washed ashore and offered the receiver of wrecks one shilling a box, cargo was strewn some 30 miles along the coast. Captain Simpson very much shaken eventually sailed from Freemantle aboard the Blue Anchor Line steamer the s.s. Wakool.

 

                                                               S.S. PERICLES.

 

                                                    CAPE LEEUWIN LIGHT HOUSE.

 

                                    S.S. STRAFILLAN NOTICED PERICLES TO CLOSE IN.

 

                                  REEF TO THE LEFT NEAR WHERE PERICLES SANK.

 

                              SISTER SHIP THEMISTOCLES REPLACED PERICLES.

 

It is interesting to note that the Pericles commenced her maiden voyage in the same year as the s.s.Waratah, the Pericles in July 1908 and the Waratah in November 1908. Having read the court of inquiry records I am inclined to agree that it was not the sea alone that covered up the Pericles.