There has been much confusion whether the Waratah carried coal on the spar deck, (also known as the lower bridge deck directly below the upper bridge deck where the ship is steered from). The Waratah on leaving Durban for Capetown did in fact have over 300 tons of coal on the spar deck. At a meeting to discuss the loading of the ship with Captain Ilbery, Mr. Owen the chief officer and Mr. William Robert Wright manager for Messrs William Cotts & Company the ships agents, Captain Ilbery instructed a representative of Messrs Nicoll & company coal suppliers to place about 250 tons plus, of coal on the spar deck. Captain Ilbery had been using the spar deck to carry coal as he now had a loading plan updated by the builders including updated stability data. The Waratah did not have 1,900tons of coal in hand on arrival at Durban as mentioned in the press. The permanent bunkers of the Waratah was 2,010 tons which he now depended on because he had lost most of his reserve bunkers 1,819 tons to a heavier cargo down below. For example No 3 lower hold on the way out from London held 859 tons which was used up prior to arriving at Adelaide, this lower hold was swept clean by the crew and prepared for the taking in of 1,000 tons of lead concentrates for stability reasons. The lead concentrates in this space were stacked 8 feet high at 12 cubic feet per ton. There was no need for the Waratah to carry her full compliment of coal 3,829 tons and was now dependent on her permanent bunkers with most of the reserve bunkers taken up by heavy cargo. Further proof of the spar deck bunker being used for coal arose in Melbourne when Captain Anderson of the Victorian stevedores in company with Mr. Owen the chief officer inspected the spar deck, Captain Anderson measured up the spar deck in case it would be needed for cargo and found there was 11,944 cubic feet of space, the remainder of the spar deck was taken up with coal about 300 tons. No tallow or wool was at any stage placed on this deck during the present voyage, it was the maiden voyage that these goods were placed there on the homeward leg of the voyage to London. The Waratah could get by with the 2,378 tons of coal when she left Durban with ,as she would top up in Capetown to make up the coal burned between Durban and Capetown. From Capetown her next port for topping up her coal was Las Palmas in the Canary Islands a distance of 4,192, from there to her home Port London was a run of about 1,563 miles. These ports were used as coaling ports on a regular basis and Mr. Lund owner of the Waratah had a business associate in Las Palmas that sold him coal cheaper than he did to other ships.
The Waratah was by no means overloaded otherwise she would not have been allowed to leave port, her mean draught on leaving Adelaide 28feet 8"inches and exactly the same when leaving Durban. Her draughts in these ports were always read by a government official and if she had have been any- were past her Plimsoll mark she would have been prevented from leaving port and the captain heavily fined , her maximum draught was 31feet 6''inches, so she was well inside the maximum draught, When she left London on her maiden voyage she was loaded with 8070 tons of coal and cargo with a mean draught of 27feet 9"inches . The Court of marine inquiry was well aware of the coal on the spar deck as it was well discussed especially about the confusion of the bridge deck. A great deal of confusion in this regard was created by the newspaper reports and reporters that did not posses any expertise in the complexities of shipping or stability, so much on the Waratah has been miss-reported. Before leaving Durban the Waratah had a slight list and captain Ilbery wouldn't leave until the ship was upright, the cause was that the coal had to be trimmed, this would have been the coal on the spar deck as the permanent coal down below would have been well and truly trimmed earlier.
Trimmers with shovels ready for work.
Port of Las Palmas.
