Readers questions on ss Waratah Answered

 Due to the volume of queries I receive by email on a weekly basis, It is becoming more time consuming to answer each individual question, because of this I have had to cut back my time spent at the computer. As the questions arrive I now collate them by importance into a list to be  answered and posted  all at once. Due to the backlog no further questions on Waratah  will be received by me or answered until the present queue has been cleared and notification posted that I will be receiving further queries . I will only answer questions  from readers who only provide their GENUINE email address and phone number including their country code, this is to eliminate time wasters and nuisances that tend to plaque the internet.
The first series of questions seem to be obviously asked by Waratah readers who have given thought to the actual mystery,  I am sure other devotees of the ss Waratah will find them most interesting and I trust my answers will satiate fully for the first time their thirst for some true answers.
   
                                               DOUBLE BOTTOM OF THE WARATAH. 
Question No1, Did the double bottom tanks of the Waratah run the whole length of the ship, and what were the capacities?

Answer Q1, YES,  however only sections of the tanks were actually filled with water, for example bottom tanks running from aft for a  length of 95 feet, under the engine room and boiler room 78 feet, then forward of that 118 feet. at total of 291 feet. A total of 1,238 tons being both fresh water and salt. Note this does not include the fore peak and after peak ballast tanks, total 100 tons salt water which were not double bottom tanks.

Double bottom tank section.

Modern construction of a ship showing double bottom section which would be used for oil supply for ships engine/engines, and shows side tanks or saddle tanks used for ballast water.

Comparison of the ss Geelongs'  double bottom, the  so called sister ship to the Waratah is given as, 

 from aft 91 feet, under engine room and boiler room 65 feet, from there to forward 184 feet, 1,081tons of water fresh and salt. 

 Some  writers class the Geelong  as the sister ship to the Waratah , I have never gone along with this, if any ship at all was to be the sister ship to the Geelong it was the ss Commonwealth, the Waratah was a three deck vessel not a two decker. 

               SS Commonwealth emptying out her ballast tanks to get ready ready for a new cargo.

        Commonwealth kicking up her heels with a bone in her Mouth, (Bow) flying along half empty.

Commonwealth double bottom from aft 82feet, under engine room and boiler room 74feet, forward 41 feet. depth of hold 30.7 feet deep.

Question No 2,  How much wool was on board the Waratah ?

Answer Q2, There were two manifests for the wool cargo shipped in bales, at Sydney 44 bales were

loaded and in Melbourne 2,245 bales were shipped giving a total of 2,289 bales weighing 350 tons.

Each bale weighed an average of 342.5 lbs which tell us that the wool was scoured. A bale of Australian wool not scoured is unclean or greasy wool and weighs usually about 384 lbs. The two types should never be stowed together to prevent the greasy wool contaminating the clean scoured wool. There is always a risk of fire with wool when carried, careful ventilation must be carried out during the voyage for this type of cargo. Wet or damp bails should be immediately rejected by the officers of the ship in order to avoid claims against the ship and to avoid the heating up of the bales resulting in spontaneous combustion.

Question No 3, In letters to the owners Captain Ilbery mentioned a cow on board, was this cargo?

Answer Q3,  No the cow was not cargo it was specifically carried for the purpose of supplying fresh milk for the saloon passengers and infants which was the custom of the period. This dates back to the time when the Cunard paddle steamer Britannia left Liverpool on July 4th 1840 for her 14 day transatlantic crossing to America. On this voyage she carried two cows for milk and a battery of hens supplying eggs for the saloon passengers.

                                             SS BRITANNIA  LEAVING LIVERPOOL 1840.

Some shipping companies in order to induce passengers would often advertise the facts that their ships carried a Surgeon, a stewardesss and cows.
With the Waratah the cow was carried up on the boat deck in a sheltered pen not much bigger than herself. On most ships cows were carried for a period of up to six months or more depending on the time when her milk became of poor quality and quantity. They were then usually killed by the ships butcher and the meat was eventually consumed by the crew. Captain Ilbery was no doubt keeping the owners updated as to the cows health and daily milk production for future reference. He was no stranger to carrying cattle and was well versed in the welfare of cattle when he was engaged in the coastal trade for some months at a time in Australia. W. Lund had contracts to ship cattle from Northern Queensland to Brisbane and the first ship fitted out for that trade was the ss Yoeman commanded by Captain Ilbery. As a matter of interest it was during one of these periods of coastal trading that Captain Ilbery had two members of his crew sent to prison for three months for refusing to work the ship. The reason for their refusal was that the Australian seamen working the coast were paid higher wages than the British seamen and they demanded the same rates of pay while working on the Australian coast.

A FINE MILKING SPECIEMEN

Question 4, On the first voyage Captain Ilbery stopped the coaling of the Waratah in Sydney for fear of her capsizing when she took on a dangerous list, is this true?

Answer Q,4 Yes, this happened on two occasions and there were many witnesses to verify that it actually occurred even though there was very little attention paid to it by the Board of Trade inquiry for obvious reasons, they were the Government body that certified ships to be safe and also responsible for the safety of the general public being transported in British sea going vessels. Captain Ilbery had to stop coaling the ship because of her heeling over to a dangerous point likely to cause a capsize. On the second stoppage of coaling the ship, matters escalated when the coal lumpers refused to go aboard to finish coaling unless they were given double their pay because they considered the ship unsafe. In order to rectify the stability of the Waratah all ballast and fresh water tanks including fore and aft peak tanks were filled giving a total of 1,338 tons bottom weight, on top of this lead concentrates were loaded into the bottom holds. The ships record of loading showed that 1,501 tons 15cwt (15hundredweights = 1,680lbs) and 3qtrs (3quarters = 84lbs) were shipped into number 3 lower hold and number 4 lower hold. Cargo weights had to be manipulated then placed in the holds accordingly, while one hatch was being unloaded another was being loaded at the same time. What became apparent to Captain Ilbery and his officers on this first voyage was that after discharging cargo at Adelaide and Melbourne some form of extra weight was required before unloading the remaining cargo in Sydney to keep the ship stable. This is why on the second voyage 970 tons of lead concentrates were taken in at Adelaide and placed in the bottom of number 3 lower hold which had held coal for the voyage out from London and was burned up prior to arriving at Adelaide so as to make space in that hold which then swept clean by the crew and made ready for the lead concentrates. It must have been a nightmare in Sydney for Captain Ilbery with no loading plan from the builders along with no stability information which was not on board when he left London. To make matters worse on the 8th of January the day before he was due to sail Captain Ilbery had to notify the authorities that two crew members had deserted the ship which resulted in fines against the Captain of 100 pounds for each deserter. According to what other crew members said, the men told them they didn't trust the ship and had been further influenced by the actions of the coal lumpers. On the same day the 8th the ss Wilcannia of the Blue Anchor Line arrived in Sydney commanded by Captain Hanson and was due to sail again on the 11th of January. No doubt Captain Ilbery would have relished dinner with Captain Hanson and no doubt discussed the trials and tribulations of his new command. It is interesting to note that the Waratah spent 16 days in Sydney on her first voyage there and only 9 days on the second voyage, probably due to the fact that much time was saved by loading the concentrates in Adelaide before arriving at Sydney.

                                                                 LEAD CONCENTRATES  

    



 

Waratah was never close inshore.

Once again we are starting to see tired old repeats from the blog site Waratah Revisited, the latest post from the 29th of December 2017  gives the headline, Proceeding to Close to Shore. The post opens with a part report from a newspaper and is as follows,( when sighted by Captain Weir the Waratah was proceeding very close to shore at about 12.5knots the Clan MacIntyre making about 10 knots. The Waratah was seen to be steering a little more southerly than the other vessel, or taking a course further out to sea.)
The author of the blog quotes this one paragraph of the of the article to give the reader impression that Waratah was sailing very close to the shore which was untrue. He conveniently left out an earlier paragraph which reads, Captain Weir, the Clan MacIntyres' skipper says,  he sighted the liner at 6.00am in Lat 31 36's long 29.58'e. The Waratah crossed starboard to port bow, and went out of sight about 9.30am. This position puts the Clan MacIntyre some 14.7 miles off shore from the nearest land.

In his  actual sworn evidence before the Court Captain Weir said, "early on the morning of the 27th day of July 1909 the ss Waratah was overtaking us and passed us at a distance about 1 mile on our starboard side. I was myself on the bridge and with the assistance of my fourth officer, spoke to the Waratah , by the Morse code of signals." He also said, " at the same time, as I and my fourth officer were carrying out he conversation with the Waratah, my chief officer was taking a bearing of Cape Hermes, which gave us a position of lat 31 36' e long 29.58e. " If the Waratah was 1 mile inshore from the Clan MacIntyre
this would put the Waratah 13.7 miles off shore  from the coast line and no where near the beach.

The green line represents the south west course of the Waratah and the red Line the Clan MacIntyres' course south west. The yellow pin maker is the Clan MacIntyres' position at 6.00am and the red cross is the Waratahs' position at the same time when she was abeam at I mile from the Clan MacIntyre.
Captain Ilbery or his navigating officer responsible for  laying out the  the voyage plan towards Capetown would certainly have avoided a course close to the shore after leaving Durban. The reason for this is that due to the configuration of the coastline north of the Durban Bluff, the Agulhas current is deflected from the shore line at Durban, but strikes it again in the vicinity of Port Shepstone. This of course causes an interval of slackness of the current between Port Shepstone and Durban. In some instances this can be felt further offshore, the Waratah was not feeling any perceptible current of significance and this is most likely the alteration of course further offshore near Cape Hermes to pick up the stronger part of the current on the 100 fathom line.

 Clan MacIntyre 2. entering Capetown on another occasion, this gives a good view of the starboard  side on which the Waratah passed her on the morning of the 27th of July 1909.

In the same post we see another article taken from The Argus Melbourne 30th December 1933 with the heading Sea Mystery Recalled.
The commander of the liner Moreton Bay (Captain H.C. Elford). "In 1909 at the time of the disaster I was a junior officer on the Ellerman steamer Johannesburg bound from East London to Durban' said Captain Elford " It was my watch on the bridge. The lights of a steamer passed us INSHORE. That was near the dreaded Aliwal Shoal, about 70 miles south of Durban. The passing vessel signalled that she was the Waratah from Durban bound for Capetown."
The author of the post has emphasized the word inshore in bold letters to give the impression that the Waratah was sailing close to the shoal. Captain Elfords words are only one paragraph from the actual newspaper article. The author of these posts appears to cherry pick parts of news articles to press his points, in these two cases the Waratah was sailing to close to anything that may endanger his ship. The actual article from the Argus reads, "It was my watch on the bridge, a terrific gale was blowing, during which the lights of a steamer passed us inshore. The passing vessel signalled that she was the Waratah from Durban bound to Capetown. She rapidly disappeared into the storm and was never seen again. Captain Elford said, "it was not surprising that no wreckage was found, as during such a heavy gale all movable articles would be lashed fast, and would go to the bottom with the ship". Formerly in command of the Pakeha and the Themistocles, Captain Elford is making his fourth voyage as master of the Moreton Bay. He has a deep interest in scientific subjects, and has submitted papers on astronomical and meteorological phenomena to the Royal Geographic Society, the Ministry of Air and the Hydrographic Department. After some research on the matter it became obvious that the newspaper reporter had beefed up the story for sensational and dramatic effect for the readers in order to sell papers, it was after all part of the great depression of the 1930's in Australia and newspapers had to survive.
If we look at the truth of the matter it was known that the Waratah sailed from Durban at about 8.15pm local time and the weather was fine along the coast with a light northerly wind and good visibility. Aliwal Shoal lies approximately 27.7 nautical miles south of Durban and not 70 miles as reported in the paper. The shoal lies 3 miles off Green point on the mainland, at times a weak south westerly current passes over the shoal. In daylight a vessel may pass without with out difficulty between the land and the shoal, (I have done this many times in small craft). In thick weather either by day or night ships must keep well clear of the shoal and not venture inside the 40 fathom mark. The sailing directions of the period which Captain Ilbery would have carried by law gave the same description and warnings about the shoal, so why would he sail close to a known danger on a routine course down the coast which he had done many times before.?

Aliwal Shoal  depths shown in meters

.

SS JOHANNESBURG.

With regard to Captain Elford and his interview he more than likely told the reporter that a raging gale was blowing when the Waratah disappeared not when he sighted her at least 5 miles east of the Aliwal shoal. Captain Elford had a very distinguished career and went on to become Commodore of the fleet. After coming through the first world war at sea unscathed he was to succumb to a German submarine during the second world war.
On the 7th of December 1942 Captain Elford (Commodore) was in command of the Shaw Savill & Albion Company ship the ss Ceramic of 18,713 gross tons. When on route from Liverpool to St Helena, Durban and Sydney Australia, the ship was attacked 420 miles north northwest of the Azores by U-boat 515 commander Werner Henke. The Ceramic had 655 persons on board 654 of which died, with only one survivor remaining, at the time she was carrying general cargo of 12,362 tons which also included Government stores. At about midnight she was first was hit by one torpedoe, actions stations were sounded and two or three minutes later two more torpedoes hit the engine room below the waterline. The engines were stopped and the vessel was plunged into darkness. There was very little panic amongst the passengers and the crew launched approximately 8 fully loaded lifeboats, they did this despite the cold weather, rough seas and the poor visibility in the now darkened ship. The Ceramic stayed afloat and three hours later she was hit with two more torpedoes which broke her in half and she sank immediately. By this time the sea was very rough and it was raining.

The lifeboats were becoming swamped and needed constant bailing out, some lifeboats capsized and threw the occupants into the water to be left floating about in their lifejackets. Henke reported his action to U boat command and was ordered back to the site to find the master and find out where the Ceramic was bound for. At noon on the 8th he surfaced and returned to the scene, a lookout first saw a body, empty life jackets and other wreckage. A lifeboat whose occupants waved to him were also seen. it was reported that Henke was upset at the sight that greeted him. At this time the wind had almost reached force 10 ( A whole gale, winds 55-63mph, very high seas) which turned into a full storm. The sea was swamping the conning tower , so Henke ordered his men to take the first survivor that came close enough to his vessel. Two men threw a rope to one of the men in the water, Sapper Eric Munday of the Royal Engineers, they took him aboard and left the area. Ships that heard the distress call from the Ceramic and were in the area said that it was one of the worst storms they had ever encountered. Captain Elford was lost with the Ceramic when she broke in two, all those in lifeboats perished in the high seas.

                                                                        SS CERAMIC.

U-boat 515 was itself attacked on  April 9th 1944 and sunk with the loss of 16 crew and 44 survivors amongst  them Werner Henke. He was transferred to Fort Hunt interrogation center in Virginia U.S.A. Here he was put under pressure by the Americans and threatened with extradition to Britain to be tried as a war criminal and face charges of shooting survivors of Ceramic in the sea(which was a totally false claim by the Americans). He committed suicide on the 15th June 1944 by climbing the perimeter fence and refused to stop when challenged and was fatally shot. The Americans put him through a hard time due to him being a top ace with some of the highest tonnages sunk by a U-boat commander some,166,000 tons of allied shipping.

                                                                  WERNER HENKE.
                                             

    

We never forget our maritime history.

On December the 15th 1909 the Lutine bell was struck twice at Lloyds of London to indicate that the ss Waratah was lost with all hands. Here in Australia we will give thought to the ship on Friday the 15th of December 108 years after her loss. The bell is struck once to indicate that the ship is home at a port  safe and well, and twice with a pause of 41seconds between the first stroke and the second stroke to indicate a lost ship, details of the ship are then read out,

     

                      ss WARATAH lost off South Africa with 211 souls on the 27/28th  of July 1909.

                                                               The LUTINE bell being rung.
The history of the LUTINE bell dates back to the end of the eighteenth century when the bell was cast in France for the 32 gun Frigate LA LUTINE. Eventually the Frigate became the property of the Royal Navy. Early on the morning of, October,9th,1799 the LUTINE set sail from Yarmouth Roads with a large amount of specie on board, estimated in that period at 1.4 million in sterling, it was the property of London merchants who were trading with Germany. The LUTINE encountered a fierce storm off Vlieland at the entrance to the Zayder Zee, all hands were lost. For years afterward many attempts were made to salvage the precious cargo. In 1858 an expedition recovered the bell and part of the rudder, together with some coins, and the bell found its way to the committee room at Lloyds.
Lloyds had to pay out in full the insurance value of the specie and did so within three weeks after the loss of the ship, the LUTINE bell then became a symbol of Lloyds reliability as insurers.

                                                     A befitting memorial to British Naval history.

              This article is a tribute to those who perished with Waratah, you will never be forgotten. 

How passengers boarded the Waratah in London.

 Contrary to  what some writers have written for example, the Waratah slipped her lines at Tilbury and left the dock in a fanfare of streamers and good byes from relative and friends,  this in actual fact is far from the truth, mainly, because of poor research by authors in a hurry and greedy to make a fast dollar from the  unfortunate Waratah .  In actual fact most passenger ships lay at anchor or secured to a mooring buoy midstream in the River Thames half way between Gravesend and Tilbury prior to taking their departure. A special train left Fenchurch Railway Station daily at 9.13 am for Tilbury station with the journey taking about 48 minutes, from the latter station the passengers had to  walk down to the Tilbury landing stage and from there,  they and their baggage along with friends and loved ones to see them off were then  transported out to the ship by the local ferry boats that normally operated between Gravesend and Tilbury. Three main boats operated the service out to ships mid-stream, these being the Gertude, Cathrine, and the Cedric. Class distinction prevailed with separate boats for saloon or first class passengers and that of the steerage or third class passengers.

                                                                   Fenchurch Railway Station.

                                                         Tilbury Railway Station and attending staff.

 
                   Tilbury Landing stage, note passenger ship anchored  mid- stream facing down stream.

  

Wealthy saloon passengers arrived at Tilbury from London via taxi with their luggage carried beside the driver and the roof rack. (London Taxi Circa 1907)

Yellow circle, Tilbury Landing, red line regular ferry route, red circle Gravesend landing, blue arrow indicates where the Waratah would have anchored facing down stream ready to head out to sea. Many passengers joining other ships of a different lines arrived at the Gravesend landing stage by rail and were ferried out to the mid- stream anchorages. If there was more than one ship laying mid- stream from different companies waiting for passengers, the ferry boat servicing a particular ship say for example the Waratah, then that particular ferry  would fly the Blue Anchor Line flag to let passengers know waiting at the landing stage that this was their transport for the Waratah.

                                        The Gravesend railway entrance to the lower  ferry landing.

                                 ss Cathrine that ferried passengers and their baggage out to the Waratah.

                   Waratah attached to a mooring buoy embarking passengers from the ferry Catherine.

Once aboard the Waratah the decks were bustling with passengers busy looking for directions and their luggage. Hawkers were busy trying to sell postcards and have telegram forms filled out hoping impulsive passengers might send a last farewell to their loved ones ashore. After a time bells would start ringing around the decks warning friends and visitors it was time to leave the ship and board the tenders, once it was established all non passengers had left the ship and the pilot ready on the bridge the Waratah got underway.

Nothing to report.

Many newspapers of the day carried the following article in relation to the search for the Waratah.

                                                             NOTHING TO REPORT.

Captain J. W. Steel, of the steamer Gryfevale which arrived at Freemantle this morning 5th November 1909 from New York, reports having sighted the ss Sabine while on passage along from the Cape. The Sabine is one of the vessels searching for the missing Lund's Liner Waratah, when the Gryfevale passed Sabine the ships were in Lat 39degrees 19 minutes south Long 60.6 degrees east (60 degrees 36 minutes east), which would be about 1,600 miles from Natal (Durban), or eight days steam out from that port. The time was 6.00pm on November the 1st, by means of semaphore the Sabine asked, "what ship?" and received the answer, "Gryfevale of Glasgow."  The former signalled:

"have you any word of the Waratah?" and the answer went back "No". The Sabines next message was: "please report us to owners, Donald Currie and Co, we have nothing to communicate, called at Crozet Group, found nothing; now working way to St Pauls Island, were are you bound?" The Gryfevale; "Freemantle". Sabine "report me to Lund's or agents, Fremantle, thank you goodbye".

                                              Mid ocean encounter of Sabine and the Gryfevale.

                                                                   ss  Gryfevale starboard side view

At the time of the encounter the Gryfevale had a crew of 43 on board which comprised of 9 white officers and one white ships carpenter, the rest of the crew were Chinese.
                                                               DECK OFFFICERS ON BOARD ,
                                                                          Captain J.W.Steel
                                                                          1st officer B. Collie
                                                                          2nd officer G.P. Pearson
                                                                          3rd officer James S. Campbell
                                                                          4th officer John Crawford.

                                       Port side view of the ss Gryfevale built 1906 wrecked 1917.

Missing Waratah, snippets from my scrap books.

                                                            A news paper clipping circa 1909.

Who can argue against Captain Tickell.

Bendigo Advertiser 8th November 1909.

                                                                  A LOT OF NONSENE.

Captain Tickell Naval Commandant, when interviewed by a Herald representative (Melbourne Paper)
today, said in his opinion there was nothing to connect the burnt wreckage found at Port Alfred, Cape Colony, with the Waratah. It is simply a lot of nonsense to suppose that the wreckage is from the Waratah, "remarked Captain Tickell. If a ship were blown up in a bay, close to a lighthouse and signal station, and fell to pieces in 20 fathoms of water, plenty of wreckage would have been found long ago.  
I am inclined to agree with him 100% for logical reasons and from a nautical perspective.

                                                                          Captain Tickell.