Ships and the Sea

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 114, 16 May 1931, Page 23

Ships and the Sea

MIDGET WINDJAMMERS

EARLY HISTORY

INTERCOLONIAL TRADERS

-.... ''.Of those who read this article, there will be few who do not remember at least some of the little sailing vessels, which, in the good old days, and even until a Jew years ago, used to trade out of Melbourne, freighting produce to and fro between; the mainland and New. Zealand> Newcastle, .Mauritius, the South Seas, and a. thousand or so,of various ports," writes George H. Johnston, secretary of the Shiplovers' Society, Victoria, Australia, to "Sea Breezes." "Few ■ of- the little-vessels exceeded 500 tons, many were consider-, ably less than 100; and all were .officered by men capable'.of'taking et ship anywhere, with every point of .practical seamanship' at'their" finger tips. It was even said;;of them. that ;,they; could find their, way 'about the "colonial.' coasts by their sense of smell. " ;'. "The life in the Newcastle coal trade was particularly hard in the midget yes : sels loaded' below ~ their marks, and; battling against; the fearful' .gales" so; frequent ajpurid-'the-'Auslraiiau coast.; In 1876 the barque dlivia DavfesJ bound frbin Newcastle to: Cfeelbhg,' had a fear-; ful experience during the gale-in which the; steamer Dandenong 'foundered. Off Cape Howe, with /an ominqus' sky and a falling glass,1 a sudden squall carried away the jibj and in-a very short timeshe was brought down to-lower topsails and fore and mizzen stay-sails, while' to make matters worse she.was rapidly. Sagging off to the coast down leeward. A fearful sea was running, and'though decks' Were repeatedly .filled from ' rail -'i to failjjit was necessary to carry canvas to keep her off the beach. By the following sunrise she was fore-reaching into a full hurricane,1 sails were torn adrift, and two seamen were" seriously injured by a huge sea, which washed thorn from poop to fore-bitts. The barque was almost on the point of foundering when'the gale'eased up long enough for her to reach"Twofold Bay-1-. and shelter. "■ •'• ."•"■• .-'■■"■■.' "Old Captain Beaton, of Melbourne; used to own the Sunderlaiid-built even I barquo t elham, and she had a very i

close call of it while carrying coal to Melbourne in '77. While hove-to in ,a hard south-westerly in Bass Strait, her cargo shifted, arid for 24 hours she lay like a'water-logged hulk, with her hatches under water, and her masts at a thirty-degree angle with the seas. During this period of extreme peril, half of the crew were below in Stygian darkness, laboriously dragging her cargo up to windward in an endeavour to trim her to something like an oven keel: The rest of the ' men were employed keeping spare sails over'the hatches to break the seas. She also was-lucky enough to have the gale abate at that critical point.: •' ; ••■■■..:.■. "One of the finest fleets of these intercolonial, small fry -,'was that owned by Spenee Brothers, of. Melbourne, whose fleet included such ships-as the Hokitika, Glonaray, E. J. Spence, Glaslyn; names which, I am sure, will evoke memories: from Melbournians of those days. The Glaslyn was one of the early passenger vessels to Natal; the Glenaray was one of: the few : Melbourneowned barques to carry wool to England. The Glenaray was built at Dumbarton in 1869, and while taking wool from Adelaide to. London seven years later, she piled up-on; the, Isle of Wight in, a dense fog and became a total wreck. The rocket apparatus was instrumental in saving fifteen of the crew of whom three wero drowned. The beautiful E. J. Spence 'wag still afloat, owned in Mauritius, until a year or two ago. In 1890 she encountered a severe cyclone wJiile bound from Port Louis, Mauritius, to Melbourne, and, besides having her decks .cleared of everything .movable, and boats ana deck-house^ stove in, a good many tons of sugar cargo had. to. be, jettisoned. Another of Spence's early: vessels._was. the three-masted barquentine St. Kilda, Scottish-built. in -1868, arid later sold to Mr. Kennedy, of Melbourne.; She was a well-known trader to .'New; Zealand for timrjer._; 7. .■ ~' ..';,: "The timber trade to Now . Zealand was monopolised, mainly by jl vast fleet of tiny, colonial-owned, windjammers. One of the best-known'of the timber traders was the little Edward, .a vessel which,: I believe, had .tho • honour of boing the last brig on the. Australian coast. Built at :pronthcim ni 1874, she was for a number of years owned by tho Norwegian Consul at Melbourne, and used to job along with Melbourne on her stern and the ensign; of Norway at her gaff. Twice tho. little vessel suffered her sail plan, to be- cut down. She was sold to' Kennedy, Of Hobart, at the beginning, of the century and came to hof last berth at Port Phillip Heads, oirNoapean Beef, onlst October, 1912. A. hard gale was/blowing tremendous seas swept the doomed vessel, the foremast and" main topmast crashed over the side, and in a very short time the little brig broke in half and her timbers began to drift across, the Rip*. Her cargo of 140,000 feet of hardworfd was strewn for miles along the coast. Two days later the Edward was sold at auction for; fill. . "The wooden barque Killarney may be remembered when owned by Mr. Blair, of Melbourne, for sho was a regular timber ship, even when known as the Anais,'under which name she was Imilt in 1869. Late in 1890 sho had a most unusual experience whilo bringing k'uui to Melbourne from. Whangaro.ti. Tin If-way iieWss tliß "Tii sin an Roa shn li-un into a must .'.terrifying ■....elcctyic

storm. Terrific crashes of thunder, vivid flashes of lightning, howling wind, and stinging hail made the night _6ne of horror. During' One particularly vivicl flash of lightning there came a thunderous detonation, and a huge meteorite fell- into the: sea 'less than'- "two' '• hun.: dred feet from thp<.-B:illarney. ■■The great splash sent the ;'sj)ra'y. over; fifty feet into the air. The vessel was unharmed, but it gave the men before, the mast the foundation ' for many fo'e'sle yarns for .the rest of -the .voyage. The old barque-is still.iafloat, afterser' sixty years of service, and is now a grimy coal hulk at Auckland. ."A fine Sydney quartet were the barques; Eona and- Epthesay Bay, sand the .barquentines .S.enorita., and. Laura, all so familiar on ith'e Australian'coast only a'few years ago; no'vv' little: triorev than a memory..:-. A.curt notQ.in., the Shipping Register, 'register closed,' a brief paragraph relating to,her break-, ing'up'for scrap; maybe, if she's lucky,---a few reminiscences of her earlier days; —and her' life is.over..■; The .Bothesay •Bay finished-up as,a.coal hulk-at Auckland only a year, or .two ago; the Senorita'.was made into a hulk' in April, 19'22;Vtlie Bona"Was"strah'ded' <fn ' the ro'eks.off ) Pe'ncarrow Hrfads, at W^lhngtofij in the middle of 1921, and her hull can now be; seen -in- the- Yarrow doing, duty as:a coal hulk.^ The Laura's '-fate was simply the'brief-Statement-of -'re-: ■giste'r-closed;' ■■■"■-iv -:" ■■ ■ '•' ■•• . "And' nowj;with-'th&''e"xception'. of a few (and even- these -are ' dwindling)' .■Jchboncrs, KetcheSj''' and ' sloopSy ' the white-winged fleet of "the colonies has. for all -tinic 'disaiipear'ed.'-"Let us motaltogether' forg:ot the-wonderful-little' vessels'; those midget ■'• windjammers which brought trade and-happiness to our seaports iiv the ; days of yesterday, when speed, and hustle: ranked not. of ■such major importance, and when roniance ancV'Sorttinicnt'::still- lingered upon the sea." ■ " ' '■•■ ' ■'■ ; Wellington's Wrecks. , " , l.:' '' .'■ ; ' As-was anticipated-by "Bosun," the article in last week's. "Post" with regard to wrecks-between Cape Palliser and :Capo Terawhiti-has ,drawn, a. considerable amount •of , corresp.Oßdenee from readers who have made their own list..of. wrecks.: :■:'. While .not suggesting that his.'list was .complete,-. "Bosun". regrets^ that the Omaka wreck, on .30th January, 1921, which was. accompanied by'the loss ( of- seven .lives, was. ove.r-

looked. A supplementary list of 'wrecks will be, published in these columns and the-communieations received: from the different correspondents will .be acknowledged. ■ ... ' . ;..',■ .';i',. Dunedlk's New Superintendent. v Captain H. A. Dillner, D.5.0., surveyor of ships on the staff of the Government Marine Office at Lyttclton, who has been appointed superintendent of mercantile marine at Duiiedin, has had a varied career at sea (states.''The Otago Daily Times"). Ho is a sdfc ,of tho late Captain H. Dillner, formerly a well-known master in the :.Blackball' Coal Company's fleet, and ho arrived at Lyttelton with his parents in 1879. He was educated at the'Lyttelton'-District High School.' On leaving, school, he followed the-sea,.and ; after .serving.in sailing vessels took.his second-.mate's ticket at Lyttoltoiiv.i' He then joined the Government steamer Tutanekai, and had some exciting experiences, chiefly in boatworkj in the lighthouse service. Captain Dillner then .joined the. New Zealand Shipping Company's service,-.™, iwhich he qualified for Ms ina'ster 's-cer- : tifieate. Service with -various -British shipping companies '.followed, and. ho visited all parts- of the world, ...In (August, 1914, he .was iti ,:the cmploy-.of the oldest existing steamship coinpanyj ithe General Steam ...Navigation • Com-: pany, whose ships.'.'lifeboats are paiiitecL: sroyal;i blue, a.:: distinction granted v.beicauseon oneoccasion in the early days .'of the company one. .of -the: lifeboats Jwas used to convey royalty. On-the: .'outbreak.of the w.ar Captain: Dillner 'volunteered for special Service in thp >Navy, and was-later" appointed to comi;mand. a division': of armed vessels/em;ployetl in anti-s-übmarine tvprk.' This ,work; he- performed--in the North Sea for the. duration.:.of...the. war.^or his service he was decorated by His • Majesty the King with the Distinguished Service Cross, and the Italian Government awarded him the bronze medal '.for military valour." ' 'Ca'ptaiti-: -Di-Hnpr : :was also twice" mentioned'in' despatches. :On returning to New -Zealand in 1918 Captain Dillner was appointed to-'-his-, present, jjosition. at. Lyttclton. Built on tho Thames. Among tho aniHvcr-siu'y-' items appearing in the April number of "The P.L.A. Monthly arc several which recall the days when naval and merchant' vessels' were built on the Thames. On 13t!i April, 1910,. H.M.S. Thunderer, the last of. the warships -.constructed; in. the -Port of London, was laid, .down ..,..by the Thames Ironworks;, and on ICth April, 1904, H.M. gunboat 'Widgeon ' was launched by Yarrow^ who 'were still at Poplar.' On-:18tlt-. April/: 154.0,-.-.tli.ere was launched'at Limehbuso the-woodeu steamers Chile and Peru,, the/first .unitsof the Pacific Steam Navigation Com- . pany's fleet. . :. : ..''.'•