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.        

In memory of those that perished on the ss Waratah.

On the morning of the 27th of July 1909 at 6.00 am local time 108 years ago on the east coast of South Africa, two ships signalled a total of 32 words between them. The Clan Macintyre called up the passenger ship the ss Waratah by signal lamp and exchanged pleasantries, after the exchange the Waratah pulled ahead of the Clan Macintyre and was last seen on the horizon at about 9.30 am and simply disappeared creating one of the greatest sea mysteries of the century. The Waratah was the new flagship of the Blue Anchor Line of London and was on her second voyage from England to Australia and home again with 211 souls that perished with her.

                                                                       SS WARATAH.

                                           SS CLAN MACINTYRE 2  at Capetown on a different voyage. 

The officer that initiated the the first signal between the two ships was the fourth mate of the Clan Macintyre Mr.W. E. Carson aged 19 years who flashed, what ship? to the Waratah. According to the chief officer Mr. George Phillips who had the watch from 4.00 am to 8.00 am said the signalling lasted about half an hour. The crew of the Clan Macintyre amounted to a total of  69   persons, mostly Lascars with white officers in control.

                                                                  THE WHITE CREW. 

Master Captain A. Weir,
Chief Officer G. P. Phillips
2nd Officer W. Crichton, 
3rd Officer W. Cothmander,
4th Officer W.E. Carson, 
Midshipman S.P. Lamont,
Midshipman D. Shaw, 
Chief Engineer P.Jackson, 
2nd Engineer  J. Sweeny, 
3rd Engineer E. Potts,
4th Engineer D.Shaw, 
Steward J. MacKenzie. 
Please note Mr. Rider who was the 2nd officer of the Clan Macintyre on the voyage before but had paid off, gave an interview to the press at Hobart in March 1910 when he was then a passenger aboard the ss Ionic on his way to New Zealand  describing the the events of the present voyage mentioned above. He was obviously describing events that must have been related to him  by a fellow officer when the Clan Macintyre  docked on arrival back in the U.K. The above crew list was taken from actual records of the time in question and is correct.

                                     Let us not forget those lost aboard the Waratah 108 years ago.

                                                                 The Ocean
                                               
                                                 The ocean has its silent caves,
                                                 Deep, quiet and alone;
                                                 Though there be fury on the waves,  
                                                 Beneath them there is none
                                                 The awful spirits of the deep
                                                 Hold their communion there;
                                                And there are those for whom we weep, 
                                                The young,the bright and fair. 
                                                Calmly the wearied seamen rest
                                                Beneath their own blue sea.
                                                The ocean solitudes are blest,
                                                For there is purity.                                                 
                                                The Earth has guilt, the Earth has care,
                                                Unquiet are its graves;                                               
                                                But peaceful sleep is ever there,
                                                Beneath the dark blue waves. Nathaniel Hawthorne.

   

July 3rd 1909 Waratah arrives at Adelaide.

108 years ago on the 3rd of July 1909 the Waratah arrived at Adelaide for a four day stop over before leaving at 4.30 pm on the 7th of July for Durban  and Capetown on her homeward voyage to London. Adelaide pilot Mr. I. John McDiarmid joined the Waratah two miles south of the Port Adelaide Lighthouse and piloted her up the River Torrens to  Ocean Steamers Wharf, her draught taken at the berth prior to loading cargo was 25 feet 8 inches forward and 26 feet 4 inches aft.

                                        Port Adelaide Light House on Neptune Island in 1909.

                                             Waratah berthed at Ocean Steamers Wharf Adelaide.

               Ocean Steamers Wharf Looking south, ship across river is at Birkenhead Wharf.

In 1907 the chart datum or depths at Ocean Steamers Wharf showed an average depth of 25 feet 6 inches for the full length of the berths along this wharf.  The actual chart showed in the notes that High water Full and Change at 5 hours 10 minutes, rising to 8.5 feet at springs and 5 feet at neaps. The High water Full and Change simply means, the FULL refers to the time of FULL MOON and the Change to the time of a NEW or changing MOON, (every two weeks).   The Waratah touched bottom at low tide in very soft mud because her draught was over 25 feet and  increased as she loaded more cargo, much has been made of this by bloggers who obviously do not understand ship construction and bleat about her bottom plates being made of brittle steel and her rivets breaking under stress because they had a high sulphur content, no known evidence, scientific or otherwise has been put forward regarding the Waratah by these bloggers. If this was the case Barclay and Curle the ship builders would have soon been out of business for using defective materials. Bloggers point out the Titanic with her brittle plates partly due to below freezing temperatures of the North Atlantic waters, combined with weak rivets which in certain hull plates were found to be defective, they immediately  assume this could be the case with the Waratah. The Waratah  cannot be compared with the Titanic, both ships were vastly different in size and built specifically for two different trade routes.When the Waratah touched the muddy bottom she did so in a gentle manner with the fall of the tide as opposed to a sudden drop like a brick which could of course be likely to spring rivets, if this had been the case quick soundings of the double bottom tanks would soon show any ingress of water, obviously the hull remained intact, otherwise Captain Ilbery would not have sailed if there was any serious damage,  he would have also put in a notice of protest to the British Consul at Adelaide. One blog posted reads,  Captain Ilbery stated on arrival at Durban that the Waratah had sustained no damage since departing Adelaide but the wording did not include damage sustained at Adelaide. The writer is implying that there was damage but can give no proof of it which infers that Captain Ilbery was lying in his signed declaration. The Waratah was by no means the only ship to sit on the mud at low tide many ships were subject to the same plight yet none seemed to suffer any ill effects, there was difficulty for some wanting to leave their berths and had to wait for the right tide, one White Star Line ship waited for thirty hours. Captain Ilbery expressed his concern about his ship to the Marine Board and also to the shipping agent about the state of the river bottom at the berths and the strains that could be put on a ships framing. Another concern he had about being on the mud was that of his chief engineer Mr. George Hodder who was worried about the cooling water for the main condenser, cooling water is taken in from the sea by two suction intakes in the ships hull, only one at a time is used. One suction or intake is right on the bottom of the hull and the other is just below the waterline on the side of the hull. These two intakes are called sea chests and are protected by grills to stop any foreign matter being sucked in and blocking the pumps. The biggest worry of course is the sucking up of mud and sand silt into the pump, I suspect that Mr. Hodder would have used the higher up intake on the side of the hull while in the river.

                                                  Upper sea chest intake on ships side.

The problem of the conditions in the river resulted from a lack of dredging as there was only one dredger in use and this was working at the new outer harbour berths to accommodate very large passenger liners. This was a continual operation to keep the depths at the river entrance and the berths at 32 feet deep, therefore the dredger could not be spared for the river. Ships master and their companies were not happy about their ship using the Ocean Steamers Wharf but faced with the option of loading and discharging cargo into lighters and having coal brought out to them, the cost factor won over because they saved 10 shillings on  a ton on coal and six shillings on a ton of cargo by not using lighters at the outer anchorage, there was also the factor of the time effect and delay in turn around times in order to keep voyage schedules.

                                         A new suction dredger arrives in Adelaide in 1911.

The Waratah was moved to the Outer Wharf where she took in the remainder of her cargo prior to departure. It is said without proof, that the Waratah was over loaded but that is certainly not the case according to official evidence. For example, the stevedore foreman makes mention of the fact the harbour master checked the Waratah and her draught marks to ensure she did not over load as he did with all ships in his port. Captain J.H Gibbon who was the Lloyd's surveyor for Adelaide and warden of the South Australian Marine Board was given the draught marks and calculated the freeboard of the Waratah in salt water at 10 feet 3 inches and made mention of the fact that she was 2 feet 2 inches lighter than her Lloyd's marks, in one of her upper tween decks she had additional cargo space for a further 150 tons or more   ( so much for being over loaded.)

                        Captain J.H Gibbon, he also had Port Gibbon in South Australia named after him.