''Falls of Halladale'' was a four-masted iron-hulled

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts having the fore- and mainmasts Square rig, rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) Fore-and-aft rig, rigged fore and aft. Som ...

, built at

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...

in Scotland in 1886 for the Falls Line of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. She was operated in the long-distance trades in

bulk cargo Bulk cargo is commodity cargo that is transported unpackaged in large quantities. Description Bulk cargo refers to material in either liquid or granular, particulate form, as a mass of relatively small solids, such as petroleum/ crude oi ...

s. She was wrecked through negligence on 14 November 1908 on the Australian coast near

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Design and Construction

The barque ''Falls of Halladale'' was built in 1886. Her length was , breadth and depth of hold , and she measured and . Built for the Falls Line (Wright, Breakenridge & Co.,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

) as Yard No.130 at the

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

of Russell & Co. at

on the

River Clyde The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...

. The ship's design was advanced for her time, incorporating features that improved crew safety and efficiency, such as elevated bridges to allow the crew to move forward and aft in relative safety during heavy seas. She was named after waterfalls on the Halladale River in the historic Scottish county of

Sutherland Sutherland ( gd, Cataibh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire (later ...

. ''Falls of Halladale'' was the seventh vessel in a series of eight similar iron-hulled sailing ships, all built by Russell & Co and all named after waterfalls in Scotland. ''Falls of Halladale'' was preceded by ''Falls of Clyde'' (1878), ''Falls of Bruar'' (1879), ''Falls of Dee'' (1882), ''Falls of Afton'' (1882), ''Falls of Foyers'' (1883) and ''Falls of Earn'' (1884). ''Falls of Halladale'' was followed by a

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

, ''Falls of Garry'' (1886). '' Falls of Clyde'' has been a museum ship at Pier 7 in the

Port of Honolulu Honolulu Harbor, also called ''Kulolia'' and ''Ke Awa O Kou'' and the Port of Honolulu , is the principal seaport of Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu and the Hawaii, State of Hawaii in the United States. From the harbor, the Honolulu County, Hawaii, Cit ...

and remains there afloat, as of 2023. The ship was launched on 21 July 1886, and registered at Glasgow on 9 August with British

Official Number Official numbers are ship identifier numbers assigned to merchant ships by their flag state, country of registration. Each country developed its own official numbering system, some on a national and some on a port-by-port basis, and the formats hav ...

93300.

Sinking

''Falls of Halladale'' is best known for her spectacular demise in a

shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...

near Peterborough, Victoria on the

shipwreck coast The Shipwreck Coast of Victoria, Australia stretches from Cape Otway to Port Fairy, a distance of approximately 130 km. This coastline is accessible via the Great Ocean Road, and is home to the limestone formations called The Twelve Apos ...

, Australia. On the night of 14 November 1908 she was sailed in dense fog directly onto the rocks due to a navigational error. The crew of 29 abandoned ship safely and all made it ashore by boat, leaving the ship foundering with her sails set. For weeks after the wreck, large crowds gathered to view the ship as she gradually broke up and then sank in the shallow water. Soon after the accident, the ship's master, Captain David Wood Thomson, was brought before a

Court of Marine Inquiry Courts of Marine Inquiry and Boards of Marine Inquiry are tribunals established in common law countries to investigate matters relating to shipwrecks, casualties affecting ships, or charges of incompetency or misconduct on the part of the masters, ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. He found guilty of a gross act of misconduct, having carelessly navigated the ship, neglected to take proper soundings, and failed to place the ship on a port tack before it became too late to avoid the shipwreck. Captain Thomson's punishment included a small fine and a six month suspension of his Certificate of Competency as a Master. Today, the remains of ''Falls of Halladale'' are a popular destination for recreational divers. The wreck is easily accessible by

scuba Scuba may refer to: * Scuba diving ** Scuba set, the equipment used for scuba (Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) diving * Scuba, an in-memory database developed by Facebook * Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array, either of two in ...

divers about 300 m offshore in 3 to 15 m of water. The hull lies on its collapsed starboard side. Some of the original cargo of 56,763 roof slates remains at the site of the wreck, along with corroded masses of what used to be coils of

barbed wire A close-up view of a barbed wire Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire, is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strands. Its primary use is t ...

. Twenty-two thousand slates were salvaged in the 1980s and used to provide roofing at the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village in

Warrnambool Warrnambool ( Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Warrnambool had a population of 35,743. Situated on the Princes Highway, Warrnambool (Al ...

. An anchor that was recovered in 1974 is on display at the village. The wreck of ''Falls of Halladale'' is a legally protected Historic Shipwreck. Falls of Halladale anchor PeterC March 2009 P1000134

Falls of Halladale anchor PeterC March 2009 P1000134

References

*Loney, Jack Kenneth, ''Falls of Halladale'', Marine History Publications, Geelong, VIC, Australia, 1976, . *MacGillivray, Jessie Scott, ''The Wreck of the Falls of Halladale: an Account from the Diary of Jessie Scott MacGillibray, Peterborough 1908–1911'', published by Richard & Jenny Stevens, Timboon, VIC, Australia, 2008, . * Christopher, Peter. Australian Shipwrecks. A Pictorial History. Axiom Publishing, Stepney, South Australia, 2009. .

External links

Falls of HalladaleFinal voyage of the Falls of HalladaleClyde-Built Ship DatabaseFlagstaff Hill Maritime Village website
* {{1908 shipwrecks Shipwrecks of Victoria (state) Barques Windjammers Four-masted ships Sailing ships of Scotland Ships built on the River Clyde History of Victoria (state) Maritime incidents in 1908 1886 ships