On the 23rd of June I posted some close up photographs of the ss Waratah with one photo of the port side showing no Plimsoll markings or load lines. I made mention of the fact but in doing so did not mean to imply the markings were never painted on the ships side in the first place, the markings were compulsory by law and if there were none painted on the ship she would have been prevented from sailing from London. The photograph is of poor quality and combined with  lighting conditions does not show enough detail of the hull, by enhancing the photograph to a high magnification I have managed see part of what was the plimsoll mark. The reason for the indistinct marking is due to the paint being worn off in rough seas and high winds, salt crystals have a very high abrasive effect and act as a liquid form of surface blasting.

The white circle shows the part of the plimsoll marks directly under the out board discharge which would also assist in the paint fading.

                             Rust can also help for poor identification on badly maintained ships

         
                                                         Statue of Samuel Plimsoll in Bristol. 

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Some interesting pictures from my collection.

For those readers interested in the Blue Anchor Line ships I have put up one or two photographs for them to enjoy as it is always wonderful to see pieces of history as it really was so long ago.

The photograph shows Captain Pentin and his lovely wife Jessie Marion Pentin aged 24 years aboard the ss  Wilcannia in Sydney in September 1895. Mrs Pentin was on the crew list as Stewardess. The offficer on the left seated by the hatch is Mr .R Bidwell  chief officer as indicated by one stripe on his right shoulder, the captain having two gold stripes. Mr. Bidwell went on to become the marine superintendent for the company and later commanded the Narrung. The group photo is taken in front of the poop deck house which was richly furnished with a saloon and cabins for twelve passengers. Looking at the lifeboat on the poop deck above to the right of the picture, you will notice two round dots on  the bow. These are in fact wooden plaques with circumferences being adorned with carved ropes and the house flag of a blue anchor in the center. The Titanic lifeboats had similar plaques on her boats with the white star in the center. In the event of any wrecked life boats being washed up on a beach with the name missing the plaques would give a clue as to what ship they came from.

                           The Wilcannia in an unknown dry dock which displays her sleek hull lines.

               A very rare close up photo of the Wooloomooloo witht the Bungaree astern of her.
         Today the 25th of June is the day the Waratah sailed from Sydney on her Fateful voyage.

A closer look at the Waratah not previously seen.

This well known photograph of the Waratah is used by just  about every blogger that has written articles on the ship, it was taken on or about the 5th of July 1909 prior to her moving to the Adelaide outer berth to top up cargo before sailing on the 7th of July for Durban. In this photo we see almost all of her starboard side, while at this berth another photo was taken from across the river showing her port side in full length.

                                                                                                                                    

                                                                       Port side view of  Waratah.

Please note while there is no known copy write on these two pictures of the ship, I have created  separate enhanced views which are newly created photographs and therefore hold copy write to these new photographs which are my own creation.
The object of my exercise is to try and bring to life parts of the Waratah and persons contained therein in order to give the reader a more practical view of the ship and bring it to life as she was in 1909. 
                                                                 VIEWS OF THE PORT SIDE.

                  Two crewman  painting the funnel, note paint pot hanging from the man on the right.

Red square shows a crewman at a fresh water header tank on the boat deck , probably topping it up from the shore supply. These tanks were gravity fed to the temporary built wash closets   down below on deck for use by tween deck immigrant passengers and were only turned on for a short period in the mornings. 
Yellow square shows four glass ports in boiler room skylight, the skylight is opened fully to catch a breeze to help cool the air below. 
Blue square shows a casual observer leaning on the rail taking in the sights across the river.
Note no Plimsoll markings on side of ship in midships section at the waterline, free board was determined by manual measurement, an exercise which I have carried out on many occasions when conducting surveys.

Red circle shows the crane man on hatch number 1 with his left arm in the air, he directs the man driving the winch by signals to lower or raise the cargo either going in or out of the hold .
White rectangle shows the faint outline of the name Waratah, the light is against the camera.
Blue arrow shows the ship has ample draft at the waterline at this stage.
Yellow rings show water ballast being discharged.

  
                                                                           Aft Section.
Red square shows either crew members or stevedores taking a break and possibly fishing.
Yellow arrow shows a boat, (Cutter), used as a service boat when at anchor or, lowered rapidly in case of a man overboard, there are no chocks and the boat only needs to be swung out.  
                                 
                               VIEWS OF THE STARBOARD SIDE OF WARATAH.

Are there any living relatives that may recognize  these two crew members on the bow. I have managed to match them up to a group photo of the crew shown below.

                      The officer circled with a blue ring is the chief engineer Mr. George Hodder.

The black arrow indicates the steam  windlass for dropping anchors weighing anchors.
The orange oval is the ships bell on the fore deck  used by the officer in charge of anchoring. The ship is equipped with 3 bells, the bridge bell for ringing out the watches and the crows nest bell for the lookout to alert the bridge of any dangers ahead.  It is rung to inform the bridge how much chain is let out or taken in and is struck when 15 fathoms of chain or one shackle  90 feet passes out marked by white paint which is easy to see in the dark.
The black rectangle shows crutches for the ships derricks to lay in and lashed down when at sea.

The black oval circle shows the halyard lines which are used when the ship is at anchor and a black shape or ball is hoisted to show she is at anchor in daylight hours.
The blue square highlights the Blue Anchor Line flag flown from the jack staff. 

 The orange circle shows the fore mast white light.
The black arrow shows the end of the 20 ton lift derrick which was stowed vertically against the fore mast at sea.
The black circle shows the retaining collar that secured the derrick to the mast. It was this derrick that the boatswain threatened to leave the ship at Adelaide with other seamen if it was not laid down. He said "we don't need all that extra weight high up in the air." This indicated that the sailors knew how tender the ship really was and were frightened of her.

The yellow rings show two seamen working on the funnel.
The blue rectangle shows the compass binnacle on the monkey platform, the cover is taken off for navigating officers to take bearings by compass and also to check compass error by the sun.
The red circle shows a short man overlooking cargo operations, possibly Captain Ilbery who was a very short and walked with a limp.

The yellow outline shows a quartermaster on gangway duty facing the camera with an officer at the head of the gangway with his back to the camera.
The white rectangle shows a coal loading door open by which coal is is loaded into a chute or scuttle. These doors have to be re caulked or sealed and made secure prior to sailing. 
The red square indicates two ladies returning to the ship possibly the two stewardess Emma Swan and Sarah E Whitehorn after a visit ashore.

                             The crows nest with the red circle showing the warning bell.

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A close up of the ss Waratah the fore deck.

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Copy write Capt. Stan Robinson.

Are there any living relatives that can identify the well dressed man facing the camera, if so, could you contact me or  email Suzanne Patterson on (sapatt17@gmail.com).

 

 

In this photograph we are able to determine that the ship has wet decks and the cargo derricks are not rigged with wire cables. This would indicate that the vessel has been made secure for sea and is about to sail for a lengthy leg of the voyage, or the photo was taken when the Waratah was deep sea.

                                                               

                                                                 COLOURED SYMBOLS.

No1. Black oval circle is the bridge bell.

No2. Green square is the builders brass plate.

No3. Purple arrow shows an escape ladder in case of fire from the upper decks down, it was this ladder that was broken off on the lower deck by heavy seas.

No4. White circle shows a deck light on the lower cross tree with a streak of rust.

No5. Blue stars show canvas winch covers.

No6. Yellow arrow pointing to number 1 hatch coaming.

No7. Red rectangle shows a screw down mushroom vent above the deck equipment locker, and paint store.  

 

Your help in this matter would be appreciated, Stanley Robinson.