Question No 1, Mr. William Harris of Mona Vale N.S.W. asked the following question, being a reader of blogs on the Waratah and articles connected with her, I and other readers are told there was an amount of disturbingly poor documentation and record keeping of the Waratah's final cargo manifest, is that true?
Answer Q 1, No not true, if there was poor record keeping and documentation how would the ship make a profit out of the freight to be carried? I can assure you that every ounce of cargo placed on board the Waratah was duly recorded by tally clerks for the agents, also the ships officers checked and recorded any cargo coming aboard in the cargo book, added to this were the mates receipts along with the bills of lading. Lack of knowledge of the Waratah's cargo was certainly not the case there were many newspaper reports giving mention on some parts of her cargo but not all of it. To uncover the actual truth about the Waratah I spent a great deal of my spare time when working in London visiting the many historical institutions that held shipping records and putting in many hours studying every aspect of the Waratah. On the 4th of February 2018 I posted an article in which I mentioned that the Waratah shipped approximately 1,500.75 tons of concentrates in Sydney on her maiden voyage this I found in the records along with her manifests. What is interesting, is that all the press reports and blogs etc, not one has ever mentioned this fact, all we ever read about is the 1,000 tons shipped in Adelaide. To prove the accuracy of my statements lets take for example the 1,000 tons of lead concentrates as well as the 1,300 tons said to have been loaded at that period as against samples of the actual Bill of Lading shown below.
Answer Q 1, No not true, if there was poor record keeping and documentation how would the ship make a profit out of the freight to be carried? I can assure you that every ounce of cargo placed on board the Waratah was duly recorded by tally clerks for the agents, also the ships officers checked and recorded any cargo coming aboard in the cargo book, added to this were the mates receipts along with the bills of lading. Lack of knowledge of the Waratah's cargo was certainly not the case there were many newspaper reports giving mention on some parts of her cargo but not all of it. To uncover the actual truth about the Waratah I spent a great deal of my spare time when working in London visiting the many historical institutions that held shipping records and putting in many hours studying every aspect of the Waratah. On the 4th of February 2018 I posted an article in which I mentioned that the Waratah shipped approximately 1,500.75 tons of concentrates in Sydney on her maiden voyage this I found in the records along with her manifests. What is interesting, is that all the press reports and blogs etc, not one has ever mentioned this fact, all we ever read about is the 1,000 tons shipped in Adelaide. To prove the accuracy of my statements lets take for example the 1,000 tons of lead concentrates as well as the 1,300 tons said to have been loaded at that period as against samples of the actual Bill of Lading shown below.
Bill of lading No 1
Shipper Max Gorlen,
Mine weight Ships weight
TONS Cwt Qtr TONS Cwt Qtr
497 16 3 483 _ _
502 9 1 487
Total= 1000 6 Total = 970
483 tons, Rate 10/-shillings per ton 241-10/- (Two hundred and forty one Pounds and ten shillings)
487 tons, Rate 10/-shillings per ton 243-10/- (Two hundred and forty three Pounds and ten shillings.)
Total freight 485 pounds for carrying 970 tons of lead concentrates to London.
Note the concentrates were shipped in two parcels as above, No 3 lower hold was subdivided by an athwartships bulkhead, one parcel was placed in the forward section of No 3 hold and the other parcel in the aft section of No 3 hold to a height of 8 feet high. This left a gap of 11 feet between the top of the concentrates and the next deck above which was No 3 lower tween deck, the depth of No 3 hold was 19 feet.
Bill of lading No 6,
Wallaroo &Moonta M&S Co Ltd
Copper ingots 3,510 25 tons, Rate 17/shillings and 6pence per ton = 21-17-6 (twenty one pounds
seventeen shillings and six pence.
Bill of lading No 7,
Copper ingots 7,140 50tons, Rate 17/shillings and 6pence per ton =43-15 (forty three pounds and 15 shillings)
Total 65pounds 12shillings and 6pence for carrying 75 tons of copper ingots to London.
The accuracy and description of each item loaded on board the Waratah was quite astounding, I even came across small corrections on three items of frozen cargo by which each parcel and the calculated freight was one shilling understated (1/-) this was then re adjusted to the correct freight rate. It was not the lack of information on the cargo that was a problem, it was the actual placement of the various weights in the hatches and holds.
Copper ingots awaiting to be loaded on board a ship.
