SS Waratah

SS ''Waratah'' was a passenger and cargo steamship built in 1908 for the Blue Anchor Line to operate between Europe and Australia. In July 1909, on only her second voyage, the ship, en route along the coast of the Colony of Natal (part of modern-day South Africa) from Durban to Cape Town, disappeared with 211 passengers and crew aboard. No trace of the ship has ever been found and her fate remains unknown.

Design and construction

In September 1907 W. Lund & Sons placed an order with Barclay Curle of Glasgow for a new cargo and passenger vessel to be delivered within twelve months that was specially designed for their Blue Anchor Line trade between the United Kingdom and Australia. The owners wanted the ship to be an improved version of their existing steamer , and therefore most specifications were based upon those of ''Geelong''. The vessel was laid down at Barclay Curle's Clydeholm Yard in Whiteinch and launched on 12 September 1908 (yard number 472), with Mrs J. W. Taverner, wife of the Agent-General of Victoria, being the sponsor.

''Waratah'' was of the spar-deck type and had three complete decks—lower, main and spar. The first-class accommodations were built on the promenade, bridge and boat decks and could house 128 passengers. In addition, a nursery was provided on the ship for first-class passengers' convenience. The vessel also had third-class passenger accommodations constructed on the poop deck that could house upward of 300 people but were certified for only 160. The ship, constructed for both speed and luxury, had eight state rooms and a salon whose panels depicted its namesake flower, as well as a luxurious music lounge complete with a minstrel's gallery. With an intent of being also an emigrant ship, her cargo holds would be converted into large dormitories capable of holding almost 700 steerage passengers on the outward journeys, while on the return the steamer would be laden with frozen meat, dairy products, wool and metal ore from Australia. In order to be able to carry frozen produce, her entire front end was fitted with refrigerating machinery and cold chambers. She also had Kirkcaldy's distilling apparatus, capable of producing of fresh water a day, installed on board. At the time of construction, ''Waratah'' was not equipped with a radio, which was not unusual at the time.

Sea trials were held on 23 October 1908 on the Firth of Clyde, during which ''Waratah'' was able to successfully maintain a mean speed of over several runs on the measured mile. After successful completion of sea trials, the steamer was transferred to her owners on the same day and immediately departed for London.

As built, ''Waratah'' was long (between perpendiculars) and abeam, a mean draft of . She was assessed at and and had deadweight of approximately 10,000. The vessel had a steel hull, and two sets of quadruple-expansion steam engines, with cylinders of , , and diameter with a stroke, that provided a combined 1,003 nhp and drove two screw propellers, and moved the ship at up to . ''Waratah'' had a cellular double bottom built along her entire length, and the hull was divided into eight watertight compartments, which it was claimed rendered her "practically immune from any danger of sinking."

''Waratah'' was named after the emblem flower of New South Wales, which appears to have been an unlucky name: one ship of that name had been lost off the island of Ushant in the English Channel in 1848, one in 1887 on a voyage to Sydney, another south of Sydney, and one in the Gulf of Carpentaria in 1897.

Operational history

Following delivery, ''Waratah'' left London for her maiden voyage on 5 November 1908 with 689 third-class and 67 first-class passengers. She was under the command of Captain Joshua Edward Ilbery, a veteran of the Blue Anchor Line with thirty years of nautical experience and a previous master of , and had a crew of 154. She touched off at Cape Town on 27 November and arrived at Adelaide on 15 December 1908. Among her passengers were Hamilton Wickes, a newly appointed British Trade Commissioner for the Commonwealth; Dr. Anderson, Bishop of Riverina; and Octavius Beale, president of the Federal Council of Chambers of Manufactures.

While on her maiden voyage, early in the morning of 6 December 1908, ''Waratah''s second officer reported a small fire in the lower starboard bunker extending all the way to the engine room. The fire was largely brought under control by noon on the same day but continued reigniting until 10 December. The fire was apparently caused by the heat emitted by several reducing and steam valves located on the starboard side of the engine room. While the roof of the engine room was insulated, the starboard side evidently was not. The repairs were performed at Sydney to the chief engineer's satisfaction.

From Adelaide ''Waratah'' proceeded to Melbourne and Sydney and sailed back for London on 9 January 1909 via Australian, Colony of Natal and Cape Colony ports carrying a cargo of foodstuffs, wool, and 1,500 tons of metal concentrates. She arrived in London on 7 March 1909 to finalize her maiden voyage, and after unloading her cargo was put into drydock where she was inspected by the Lloyd's inspector and underwent some minor repairs.

During her maiden voyage, ''Waratah'' was scrutinized by Captain Ilbery and his crew, as one of the criteria used in acceptance trials was the ship's handling and stability. Ilbery was not completely satisfied and, considering he was previously in charge of ''Geelong'', presumably reported to the owners that the ship did not have the same stability as his old vessel. He was especially concerned with the difficulty of properly loading the steamer to maintain her stability, which resulted in a heated exchange between the owners and the builders following the vessel's return to England. The subsequent inquiry into her sinking raised some disputed reports of instability on this voyage.

On 27 April 1909 ''Waratah'' set out on her second trip to Australia carrying 22 cabin, 193 steerage passengers in addition to a large cargo of general merchandise, and had a crew of 119. The outward trip was largely uneventful, and the steamer arrived at Adelaide on 6 June after touching off at Cape Town on 18 May. Upon loading approximately 970 tons of lead ore at Adelaide, the steamer continued to Melbourne and had to plough through a strong gale to Transvaal Colony, accompanied by two Transvaal policemen.

''Waratah'' reached Durban on the morning of 25 July, where one passenger, Claude G. Sawyer, an engineer and experienced sea traveller, left the ship and sent the following cable to his wife in London: "Thought Waratah top-heavy, landed Durban". Sawyer later testified to the London inquiry that he had booked passage on ''Waratah'' through to Cape Town, but had decided to disembark at Durban as he had been nervous about the behaviour of the ship during his voyage. He also claimed that he had been disturbed by visions he saw in dreams during the voyage of a man "dressed in a very peculiar dress, which I had never seen before, with a long sword in his right hand, which he seemed to be holding between us. In the other hand he had a rag covered with blood." Sawyer claimed that he took these visions to be a warning to leave the ship at the earliest opportunity. In any event his decision to leave ''Waratah'' at Durban saved his life. The ship left Durban at approximately 20:15 on 26 July with 211 passengers and crew.

Disappearance

At around 04:00 on 27 July ''Waratah'' was spotted astern on the starboard side by the Clan Line steamer ''Clan MacIntyre''. As ''Waratah'' was the faster ship she drew level with ''Clan MacIntyre'' by about 06:00, at which point both vessels communicated by signal lamp and exchanged customary information about the name and destination of their respective ships. ''Waratah'', going approximately 13 knots, then overtook ''Clan MacIntyre'' at a location abeam of the mouth of the Bashee River on southeast coast of the Colony of Natal. She remained in sight of ''Clan MacIntyre'', gradually steaming away until she disappeared over the horizon by about 09:30. This was the final confirmed sighting of ''Waratah''. Later that day the weather deteriorated quickly (as is common in that area) with increasing wind and rough seas, developing into a cyclone by 28 July. The captain of ''Clan MacIntyre'' said it was the worst weather he had experienced at sea in his thirteen years as a seaman, with winds of exceptional strength causing tremendous swells.

There were several further unconfirmed sightings:

At around 17:30 on the 27th, a ship called the ''Harlow'' saw the smoke of a steamer on the horizon. There was so much smoke that her captain wondered if the steamer was on fire. When darkness fell, the crew of ''Harlow'' could see the steamer's running lights approaching, but still behind them. Suddenly there were two bright flashes from the direction of the steamer and the lights vanished. The captain thought they were caused by explosions, but the mate of ''Harlow'', who had also seen them, thought the flashes were brush fires on the shore (a common phenomenon in the area at that time of year). The captain agreed and did not even enter the events in the log – only when he learnt of the disappearance of ''Waratah'' did he think the events significant. Reportedly ''Harlow'' was from Durban.

That same evening at around 21:30 the Union-Castle Liner ''Guelph'', heading north to Durban from the Cape of Good Hope, passed a ship and exchanged signals by lamp, but because of the bad weather and poor visibility was able to identify only the last three letters of her name as "T-A-H."

Another possible sighting, which was not disclosed to the London inquiry at the time, was by Edward Joe Conquer, a Cape Mounted Rifleman who on 28 July was posted to carry out military exercises on the banks of the mouth of the Xora River along with Signaller H. Adshead. He recorded in his diary that he and Adshead had observed through a telescope a steamship which matched the description of ''Waratah'' that appeared to be struggling slowly against heavy seas in a south-westerly direction. Conquer observed the ship roll heavily to starboard, and then before it was able to right itself, a following wave rolled over the ship, which then disappeared from view, leading Conquer to believe it had gone under. Conquer reported his sightings to his base camp and to his Orderly Sergeant, who apparently did not take the matter seriously. He did not come forward with his story until 1929.

''Waratah'' was expected to reach Cape Town on 29 July 1909, but never reached its destination. No trace of the ship has ever been found.

Search efforts

Contemporary searches

Initially, the non-appearance of the ship did not cause alarm as it was not uncommon for ships to arrive at port days, or occasionally even weeks overdue. As ''Waratah'' was considered unsinkable, it was at first thought likely that she had been delayed by a breakdown or mechanical fault, and was still adrift. Fears started to grow for her safety, when ships which had left Durban after ''Waratah'' and had travelled on a similar course began arriving at Cape Town, and reported having seen no sign of her en route. The first search effort was launched on 1 August, when the tugboat ''T.E. Fuller'' was sent out to look for any sign of the ship, but was forced to turn back after encountering dreadful weather. She later returned to search along the coast. The Royal Navy deployed cruisers and HMS ''Forte'' (and later ) to search for the ''Waratah''. The ''Hermes'', near the area of the last sighting of the ''Waratah'', encountered waves so large and strong that she strained her hull and had to be placed in dry dock on her return to port. On 10 August 1909, a cable from Colony of Natal reached Australia, reading "Blue Anchor vessel sighted a considerable distance out. Slowly making for Durban. Could be the Waratah". The Chair of the House of Representatives in the Australian Parliament halted proceedings to read out the cable, saying: "Mr. Speaker has just informed me that he has news on reliable authority that the SS ''Waratah'' has been sighted making slowly towards Durban." In Adelaide, the town bells were rung, but the ship in question was not the ''Waratah''.

Numerous other ships in the area joined the search, including the ''Waratah''s sister ship '' Geelong'' which deviated from its course from Cape Town to Adelaide, to search waters east of Colony of Natal where the ''Waratah'' was thought to be possibly drifting. The German steamship ''Goslar'' also kept special lookout for ''Waratah'' for 1262 miles of ocean while en route from Port Elizabeth to Melbourne.

On 13 August 1909 the steamship ''Insizwa'' reported sighting of several bodies off the mouth of Bashee ( Mbashe) River, near the location of the last confirmed sighting of the ''Waratah''. The Captain of the ''Tottenham'' also allegedly saw bodies in the water, more than two weeks after the ''Waratah'' disappeared.SS Waratah, Stories and Legends
/ref> The tug ''Harry Escombe'' was sent out to search for the bodies, but failed to find any; it did however find floating objects which resembled human bodies, which turned out to be dead skate.

Hope remained that ''Waratah'' was still afloat and drifting; this was bolstered by the experience of the steamer SS ''Waikato'' which had in 1899 broken down off the Cape, and had drifted eastwards for over 100 days covering , before being discovered and towed to Australia. ''Waratah'' had enough provisions on board to last for a year, however as she lacked any radio equipment, she would have been unable to communicate with any ships beyond visual range. In September 1909, the Blue Anchor Line chartered the Union Castle cargo ship ''Sabine'' to search for the ''Waratah''. The ''Sabine'' was specially fitted out with search lights and other equipment. Its search covered , and zig-zagged across the drift path of the aforementioned ''Waikato'' but yielded no result. With no sighting of the ship for over four months, ''Waratah'' was officially posted as missing at Lloyd's of London on 15 December 1909. However, in early 1910, relatives of ''Waratah'' passengers made one further attempt to locate the ship, and chartered the ''Wakefield'' which conducted a search for four months covering , this again proved unsuccessful.

No confirmed wreckage or bodies from the ''Waratah'' have ever been found, although there were a number of unconfirmed reports: Wreckage was reported to have been found at Mossel Bay in March 1910. A life preserver reportedly marked with the name 'Waratah' washed up on the coast of New Zealand in February 1912. In 1925 Lt. D. J. Roos of the South African Air Force reported that he had spotted a wreck while he was flying over the Transkei coast. It was his opinion that this was the wreck of the ''Waratah''. Pieces of cork and timber, possibly from the ''Waratah'', were washed up near East London, South Africa in 1939.

Later search attempts

A number of attempts at locating a wreck have taken place, in particular under the leadership of Emlyn Brown. Attempts to locate the ''Waratah'' took place in 1983, 1989, 1991, 1995 and 1997. In 1999 reports reached the newspapers that the ''Waratah'' had been found 10 km off the eastern coast of South Africa. A sonar scan conducted by Emlyn Brown's team had indeed located a wreck whose outline seemed to match that of the ''Waratah''. In 2001, however, a dive to the site revealed that the wreck was in fact that of the '' Nailsea Meadow'', a merchant cargo ship that had fallen victim to a German U-boat during the Second World War. In 2004 Emlyn Brown, who had by then spent 22 years looking for the ''Waratah'', declared that he was giving up the search: "I've exhausted all the options. I now have no idea where to look", he said.

Inquiry

The Board of Trade inquiry into the disappearance was held in December 1910 at Caxton Hall in London. It quickly came to focus on the supposed instability of the ''Waratah''. Evidence was greatly hampered by the lack of any survivors from the ship's final voyage (other than the small number, including Claude Sawyer, who had disembarked in Durban). Most evidence came from passengers and crew from ''Waratah's'' maiden voyage, her builders and those who had handled her in port.

The expert witnesses all agreed that the ''Waratah'' was designed and built properly and sailed in good condition. She had passed numerous inspections, including those by her builders, her owners, the Board of Trade and two by Lloyd's of London, who gave her the classification "+100 A1" – their top rating, granted only to ships Lloyds had inspected and assessed throughout the design, construction, fitting out and sea trials, on top of the two valuations and inspections Lloyds had made of the completed ''Waratah''.

However, many witnesses who had travelled on the ship testified that the ''Waratah'' felt unstable, frequently listed to one side even in calm conditions, rolled excessively, and was very slow to come upright after leaning into a swell, and had a tendency for her bow to dip into oncoming waves rather than ride over them. One passenger on her maiden voyage said that when in the Southern Ocean she developed a list to starboard to such an extent that water would not run out of the baths, and she held this list for several hours before rolling upright and then settling down to a similar list on the other side. This passenger, physicist Professor William Bragg, concluded that the ship's metacentre was just below her centre of gravity. When slowly rolled over towards one side, she reached a point of equilibrium and would stay leaning over until a shift in the sea or wind pushed her upright.

Other passengers and crew members commented on her lack of stability, and those responsible for handling the ship in port said she was so unstable when unladen that she could not be moved without ballast. But for every witness of this opinion, another could be found who said the opposite. Both former passengers and crew members (ranking from stokers to a deck officer) said the ''Waratah'' was perfectly stable, with a comfortable, easy roll. Many said they felt she was especially stable. The ship's builders produced calculations to prove that even with a load of coal on her deck (that several witnesses claim she was carrying when she left Durban) she was not top heavy.

260px, SS Geelong
The inquiry was unable to make any conclusions from this mixed and contradictory evidence. It did not blame the Blue Anchor Line, but did make several negative comments in regard to the company's practices in determining the performance and seaworthiness of its new ships. Correspondence between Captain Ilbery and the line's managers show he commented on numerous details about the ship's fixtures, fittings, cabins, public rooms, ventilation and other areas, but failed to make any mention at the basic level of the ''Waratah's'' seaworthiness and handling. Equally, the company never asked Captain Ilbery about these areas. This led some to speculate that Ilbery had concerns about the ''Waratah'' and its stability, but deliberately kept such doubts quiet. However, it is also possible that neither he nor the Blue Anchor Line felt it necessary to cover such areas, because the ''Waratah'' was heavily based on a previous (and highly successful) Blue Anchor ship, the '' Geelong'', and so the ''Waratah's'' handling was assumed to be the same.

It is certainly true that many passenger ships of the period were made slightly top-heavy. This produced a long, comfortable but unstable roll, which many passengers preferred to a short, jarring but stable roll. Many trans-Atlantic liners were designed this way, and after a few voyages those operating them learnt how to load, ballast and handle them correctly and the ships completed decades of trouble-free service. It may have been the ''Waratah's'' misfortune to encounter an unusually heavy storm or freak wave on only her second voyage, before she could be trimmed correctly. This slightly top-heavy design could also account for the strongly opposed opinions of witnesses about whether or not the ship felt stable. An inexperienced or uninformed person on the ship might conclude that the long, slow, soft roll of the ship felt comfortable and safe, whilst someone with more seagoing experience or a knowledge of ship design would have felt that the same motion was unstable. In regards to the witnesses claiming the ''Waratah's'' instability in port when unladen, this may have been true. However, virtually all ocean-going ships (which are, after all, designed to carry a large weight of cargo) need to be ballasted to some extent when moved unladen, so the ''Waratah'' was certainly not unique in this respect. The witnesses would have been well aware of this – that they still came forward to attest that they regarded the ''Waratah'' as dangerously unstable in these conditions does suggest that the ship was exceptional in some respect.

The ''Waratah'' was also a mixed-use ship. Passenger liners, with a small cargo volume relative to their gross register tonnage had fairly constant and predictable ballasting requirements. A ship like the ''Waratah'' would carry a wide range of cargoes, and even different cargoes on the same voyage, making the matter of ballasting both more complex and more crucial. When she disappeared, the ''Waratah'' was carrying a cargo of 1,000 tons of lead concentrate, which may have suddenly shifted, causing the ship to capsize.

The inquiry concluded that the three ships reporting potential sightings of the ''Waratah'' on the evening of 26 July could not all have seen her given the distance between them and the time of the sightings, unless the ''Waratah'' had reached Mbashe River and exchanged signals with the ''Clan MacIntyre'' but then turned around and headed back to Durban, to be sighted by the ''Harlow''.

Theories

Theories which have been put forward to explain the disappearance include:

Freak wave

A theory advanced to explain the disappearance of the ''Waratah'' is an encounter with a freak wave, also known as a rogue wave, in the ocean off the South African coast. Such waves are known to be common in that area of the ocean. It is most likely that the ''Waratah'', with what seems to be marginal stability and already ploughing through a severe storm, was hit by a giant wave. This either rolled the ship over outright or stove in her cargo hatches, filling the holds with water and pulling the ship down almost instantly. If the ship capsized or rolled over completely, any buoyant debris would be trapped under the wreck, explaining the lack of any bodies or wreckage in the area. This theory was given credibility through a paper by Professor Mallory of the University of Cape Town (1973) which suggested that waves of up to 20 metres (66 feet) in height did occur between Richards Bay and Cape Agulhas. This theory also stands up if the ''Waratah'' is assumed to have been stable and seaworthy – several ships around the Cape of Good Hope have been severely damaged and nearly sunk by freak waves flooding their holds. Throughout the world ships such as '' Melanie Schulte'' (a German ship lost in the Atlantic Ocean) and MV ''Derbyshire'' (a British bulk carrier sunk in the Pacific Ocean) have suddenly broken up and sunk within minutes in extreme weather.

Some have also suggested that instead of sinking, the ship was incapacitated by a freak wave and, having lost her rudder and without any means of contacting land, was swept southwards towards Antarctica to either be lost in the open ocean or founder on Antarctica itself. No evidence except the absence of the wreck supports this theory.

Cargo shift

The ''Waratah'' was carrying in her cargo holds around 1,000 tons of lead and 300 tons of lead ore concentrate, which is known under certain circumstances to liquefy due to the motion of the ship. This can affect the stability of the ship due to the free surface effect, potentially causing it to capsize. Today, ore concentrate is treated as hazardous cargo, with special measures required for its transport in ships; however, in 1909 there was little awareness about the dangers of carrying this material.

Whirlpool

Both at the time of the disappearance and since, several people have suggested that the ''Waratah'' was caught in a whirlpool created by a combination of winds, currents and a deep ocean trench, several of which are known to be off the southeast coast of Africa. This would explain the lack of wreckage, but there is no firm evidence that a whirlpool of sufficient strength to almost instantly suck down a ocean liner could be created as suggested.

Explosion

Given the evidence from the officers of the ''Harlow'' (see above), it has been speculated that the ''Waratah'' was destroyed by a sudden explosion in one of her coal bunkers. Coal dust can certainly self-combust and in the right proportions of air be explosive. However, no single bunker explosion would cause a ship the size of the ''Waratah'' to sink instantly, without anyone being able to launch a lifeboat or raft, and without leaving any wreckage.

Aftermath

The ''Waratah's'' disappearance, the inquiry and the criticism of the Blue Anchor Line generated much negative publicity. The line's ticket sales dropped severely and, coupled with the huge financial loss taken in the construction of the ''Waratah'' (which, like many ships of the time, was under-insured), forced the company to sell its other ships to its main competitor P&O and declare voluntary liquidation in 1910.

In 1913, a Brisbane newspaper, ''The Daily Mail'', suspected its competitor '' The Daily Standard'' was copying its news stories. So the ''Daily Mail'' published a hoax article claiming that the ''Waratah'' had been discovered in Antarctica. The ''Daily Standard'' also published the story and added a statement from the harbourmaster.

Memorials

A plaque in the Parish Church at Buckland Filleigh, Devon, England, commemorates Col. Percival John Browne. He was returning to England on the ''Waratah'', from his sheep farm in Mount Gambier, South Australia. His family home was Buckland House.

A plaque to the memory of Howard Cecil Fulford, the ship's surgeon, was erected in the chapel by his fellow students at Trinity College (University of Melbourne).

In the Parish Church of St Wilfrid, Bognor Regis, England, is a plaque: "The church gates were given in memory of Harris Archibald Gibbs who was drowned at sea in the SS Waratah".

In the main church in Aberystwyth, Wales, is a plate "in happy memory of John Purton Morgan, 3rd Officer SS Waratah lost at sea 1909".

A memorial in Higher Cemetery, Exeter, Devon, commemorates Thomas Newman "drowned in SS Waratah 27th July 1909".

A centenary plaque was unveiled at the Queenscliffe Maritime Museum, Victoria, Australia, on 27 July 2009.

Cultural impact

The story of the ''Waratah'', with the loss of 211 people, has often been compared to that of which sank three years later, with the loss of over 1,500 people. As such the ''Waratah'' has been referred to variously as the "Titanic of the southern seas" or the "Titanic of the south" or alternatively "Australia's Titanic".

See also

*List of people who disappeared mysteriously at sea

References

Notes

Bibliography

*
*

Further reading

*"The Loss of the Waratah", ''The Times'', 23 February 1911 p. 24
*Esther Addley, "Sea yields our Titanic's Resting Place", ''The Weekend Australian'', 17 July 1999
*Sue Blane, "The Week in Quotes", ''Financial Times'', 6 May 2004
*Alan Laing, "Shipwreck expert abandons hunt for Clyde liner", '' The Herald'', 4 May 2004
*Tom Martin, "Almost a century after she vanished, scientists could now be on the verge of solving riddle of SS ''Waratahs last voyage", '' Sunday Express'', 25 April 2004
*Geoffrey Jenkins' ''Scend of the Sea'' (Collins, 1971) is a novel based on the loss of the Waratah.

External links

S/S Waratah on the wrecksiteNUMA on Waratah''Waratah'' Crew list

''Waratah'' Passenger list

December 1910 inquiry into loss of Waratah .pp.101–105 Buffalo City tourism

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waratah
1900s missing person cases
1908 ships
Australian folklore
Cargo liners
Iron and steel steamships of Australia
Maritime incidents in 1909
Missing person cases in Africa
Missing ships of Australia
People lost at sea
Passenger ships of Australia
Ships lost with all hands
Shipwrecks of South Africa