The wreck of the three-masted ship ''Surat'', on New Year's Day 1874, was a major event in the early history of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Otago Region Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

. The ''Surat'', a 1,000 ton iron vessel, was under charter to the

New Zealand Shipping Company The New Zealand Shipping Company (NZSC) was a shipping company whose ships ran passenger and cargo services between Great Britain and New Zealand between 1873 and 1973. A group of Christchurch businessmen founded the company in 1873, similar ...

and was carrying emigrants and their belongings from Gravesend, England to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, New Zealand. She left Gravesend on 28 September 1873, with a crew of 37 under the command of Captain Johnson, carrying 271 passengers and 980 tons of cargo,Ingram, C. W. N., and Wheatley, P. O., (1936) ''Shipwrecks: New Zealand disasters 1795–1936.'' Dunedin, NZ: Dunedin Book Publishing Association. pp. 189–190. among it railway iron and equipment for a woollen factory.Brett, H., (1924)
Loss of the ''Surat''
in "White Wings (volume I)." Auckland: Brett Printing Company. Archived at the New Zealand Electronic Text Collection,

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well kno ...

. Retrieved 22 January 2019. It was not the ''Surats first trip to New Zealand; she had previously carried British emigrants several occasions since the mid 1860s.

Wreck in the Catlins

The majority of the voyage was uneventful, and the ship rounded the southern end of New Zealand's South Island on the last day of the year. At just before 10 p.m., under the command of her second mate, the ship hit a rock, raking her hull before drifting clear. The exact location of this incident is unknown, but it was certainly along the southern part of the

Catlins The Catlins (sometimes referred to as The Catlins Coast) comprises an area in the southeastern corner of the South Island of New Zealand. The area lies between Balclutha and Invercargill, straddling the boundary between the Otago and Southla ...

coast, and probably close to Chasland's Mistake. A check at the time found that the hull was sound and there was no leak. During the night, however, a weakened section of hull broke through, and the pumps had to be manned. At daylight, the steamer ''Wanganui'' was sighted and offered help, but Captain Johnson — according to many accounts in a state of heavy intoxication — made it clear in no uncertain terms that help was not needed. Several of the passengers protested and attempted to contact the ''Wanganui'', but Johnson produced a revolver and threatened to shoot anyone defying his command. The captain did respond in part to the passengers' fears, anchoring the ship in Jack's Bay and allowing passengers to land. About half the passengers were landed before it was discovered that the ship was in danger of foundering. At this point, the anchor was raised and the ''Surat'' continued north to the mouth of the Catlins River, where she was deliberately beached in the sandy bay now called Surat Bay and formerly known as Forsyth's Bay.Shipwrecks
" ''The Catlins: Te Akau Tai Toka''. Retrieved 22 January 2019. All the remaining passengers and crew landed safely, with the help of the Port Molyneux harbourmaster, Captain C. E. Hayward,

Aftermath

Once news of the wreck reached Dunedin, the harbourmaster at the city's port,

Port Chalmers Port Chalmers is a town serving as the main port of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Port Chalmers lies ten kilometres inside Otago Harbour, some 15 kilometres northeast of Dunedin's city centre. History Early Māori settlement The origi ...

, enlisted the help of a French warship, the ''Vire'', which was anchored at the port. Under the command of its captain, Jacquemart, the ship travelled south to the scene of the wreck. With the help of the steamer ''Wallabi'' (or ''Wallabie''), which had arrived from

Bluff Bluff or The Bluff may refer to: Places Australia * Bluff, Queensland, Australia, a town * The Bluff, Queensland (Ipswich), a rural locality in the city of Ipswich * The Bluff, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a rural locality * Bluff River (New ...

, the ''Surats passengers were safely delivered to Dunedin. All of the emigrants' belongings were left in the watery hulk, as was the ship's other cargo. The ship's wreck — including its cargo — was later sold at auction, but by that time, the settlers' possessions were damaged beyond repair, and they had to rely on an emergency fund set up by the residents of Dunedin. The ship's carved figurehead later became the property of Dunedin's Toitu Otago Settlers Museum. The inquiry into the wreck held that Captain Johnson and his officers were accountable for the wreck. Both the Captain and second mate had their certificates cancelled, and Johnson was further sentenced to two months' imprisonment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Surat 1874 in New Zealand Maritime incidents in January 1874 The Catlins History of Otago Shipwrecks of New Zealand Clutha District 1874 disasters in New Zealand