The Waratah Disaster.
So much of recent has been written by many egocentric persons claiming to be self appointed experts on the subject, quoting newspaper articles of the time and forming their own opinions from them trying to convince the general public or readers that they have the answers to the disappearance of the ss Waratah, yet they appear to have no nautical training or experience of that of a professional mariner other than their own internet perusal or readings from other sources on the subject. In my new book THE WARATAH DISASTER, yet to be published I have made every effort to answer some of the more vexing questions such as the bodies in the sea, the encounter with the steamer Guelph and the signal letters T.A.H received by that ship, and dispel the story by the master of the Harlow of a ship blowing up astern of him on the night of July the 27th 1909. To show proof that coal was carried on the spar deck when leaving Durban. Books written on the Waratah fictional or otherwise by which authors have taken artistic licence that do no justice to or respect those that perished with the ship, and above all must it be insulting and deeply hurtful to the living relatives of the deceased many of whom I have had the pleasure of meeting, and all hoping to get some truthful answers about the loss of the Waratah. My purpose for writing the book is meant to be one of enduring true historical value along with three other main reasons. One, to ascertain the approximate area where the Waratah succumbed to the elements and sank, this I have done with a certain accuracy, two, to prove that the court of inquiry was orchestrated to find no party negligent or in other words the establishment investigating the establishment, three, to give an insight of the conditions of that period that seaman had to endure from heartless shipowners who enjoyed the protection of the British Parliment. I feel that I am more than qualified as an ex professional mariner to write on the subject having spent ten years of my forty years at sea on the east coast of Africa from Mozambique to Capetown in all weathers and familiar with the Agulhas current which I used to full advantage to save fuel and and time, and on many occasions made aware of the dangers of that coast in the way of weather patterns and gigantic seas in winter. Since my interest which was aroused in South Africa many years ago I pondered the question was it only the sea that covered up the Waratah? To find the answers to this question I spent many months in London when visiting there on another matter and spent countless hours in such establishments as the Greenwich Maritime Museum Library pouring over early charts of the coast of South Africa and notice to mariners of the period in order to glean all information that would have been available to Captain Ilbery and other mariners traversing that part of the coast. A lot of my time took in the British Library, the Guild Hall of London and most importantly the public records of at Kew where I uncovered a rich wealth of information some of which I think may not have been meant to be put in the public domain, possibly due to lazy public servants who were charged at the time with sorting out what information should be released and what should be withheld. Some of the conclusions I arrived at that was that the Waratah was badly managed and deception by her officers and owners certainly took place. Should the same circumstances be duplicated by the shipping standards of today the owners and officers would defiinitely be facing criminality charges. Three things I am certain of ,one, the Waratah did not blow up near Cape Hermes off Port St John, two she did not roll over off the Xhorsa river in broad daylight and float upside down with the current for many miles and eventually sink as some have suggested. A hull that size upside down in the main shipping lane would have certainly been seen and reported. Perhaps the authors of this theory may have been taken in by the movie of 1972 The Poseidon Adventure. Three, extra top weight was added to the ship after the inclining test to establish her stability curves. My book should have been published earlier but due to health setbacks bouts in hospital I am back on track to publish my findings by the end of this year, I shall post a notice well in advance of a release date for the book. In between I look forward to comment from those interested in the Waratah.
Sincerly Stan Robinson former mariner.
Sincerly Stan Robinson former mariner.
