# ss waratah



## cubpilot (Aug 18, 2008)

Until quite recently I had never heard about the loss of SS Waratah off South Africa with all hands and passengers in 1909. She was returning to Uk on her second voyage. Probably foundered dur to poor stability after taking on more cargo and coal bunkers at Durban. In those days without radio no distress signals and so it was not until she was many days overdue at Cape Town did anyone begin a search. In the end though the families and owners in Melboune paid for two major search parties. 

I know the grandson of the Captain of SS Wakefield which was sent out on the second search and have had the privalege of reading the diaries of both Captain Putt and Lt. Seymour RN the leader of the Royal Navy search party seconded to the Wakefield. 

They were tasked to block search the South Indian Ocean and visit as many of the islands as possible. They left Durban in early Feb 1910 and arrived in Melbourne min June after an horrenous journey in appaling weather. Captain Putt was injured in one voilent storm when he was thrown across the wheelhouse. the shore search parties had some exciting adventures, getting ashore in high seas was difficult and they nearly came to grief when their boat was smashed against rocks. they had to wait some days before the ship could approach and send the lifeboat for them. ( no motor boats in those days)

No signs of life on most islands but many had dumps of stores placed by previous visitors in case someone should get shipwrecked and end up needing succour. There would always be an 'Alls Well' message from that crew stating the date and asking any finder to report the same when arriving at the next port. very occasionally they met up with whaling crews. One Whaler captain had the cheek to charge them pilotage and anchorage when the approached his base.

In recent years there has been a hunt off the African coast for the wreck, and a tv do***entary made about this hunt.

be interesting to see if anyone has any other information about the Waratah disaster.


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## Brian Bunyard (Aug 15, 2006)

The information you have is correct and now after 100 years we will never know what happened, an extensive search was undertaken to no avail, as the ship that Emlyn Brown found turned out to be a freighter sunk during World War 2.
Author David Willers has written a book on the subject which is both factual and fiction, it is worthwhlie reading the book in particular the factual aspects of it.
A friend of mine posted a photograph of a scratch built model of the Warath which you can find in the model section on SN.
Regards
Brian Bunyard


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## cubpilot (Aug 18, 2008)

i believe my friend assisted both brown and williers with their research. i cannot think that anyone could workout where to start a search for a wreck as she could have foundered in heavy seas well off the coast or been uncertain of position and ended up on a reef anywhere between durban and capetown. 

i gather from the captain Putt's diary that the the heavy weather left the Wakefield in poor shape after the trip and she had to have a couple of weeks in dry dock in melbourne before heading to chile and back to australia on normal cargo charters. he eventually returned to uk a year or more later on.


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## Billy1963 (Jan 4, 2006)

There has been a book published and released in July 2009 you maybe interested in on the subject.

http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?11731


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## cubpilot (Aug 18, 2008)

To us today it would appear to be obvious that she foundered in one of those massive storms and high seas to be encountered off that coastline but one has to ask why were there two extensive and costly expeditions to search for her. Captain Putt's diary makes clear he had no expectation of finding anything but further up the hierachy they must have had a reason to think otherwise. i doubt that anyone can be confident of either an exact date or position due to the lack of communication and weather reporting in that area in those days.


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## Alistair Macnab (May 13, 2008)

The seas off the South African Coast are well-known for their unusual behaviour being described variously as extremely lumpy or with terrible holes. One time I came out of East London and on turning south at the 100 fathom line to head for the Cape, the ship gave a couple of beam-end rolls and everything that was not screwed formally down took a flyer. We recovered from this but it was pretty frightening!
Then there was the Ben Boat that suffered hull damage when she met some extraordinary sea condition and limped into Durban. Frightening indeed.

It would not surprise me that a passenger ship with increased topsides hamper was a shade unstable and pushed over beyond the tipping point just kept rolling over.

There does not even have to be a storm raging. These confused sea conditions can happen at any time.


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## PeterDeegan (Aug 3, 2009)

I sailed the South African coast for a few years and remember some pretty awful weather out there!


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## Dulcibella (Mar 7, 2008)

When I worked for Sitmar Line in London, during 1965-1967, I can remember that the company sent out a general letter of warning to all of our Captains, that when sailing of the South African coast, they were to be extremely vigilant because of a condition where a ship could - it seems - drop into a watery hole and immediately be overwhelmed by a huge flood of water. I have a copy of the letter at home smewhere and if I can find it I'll post the relevant paragraph(s).

Dulcibella


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## tom e kelso (May 1, 2005)

I seem to remember a press report some twenty or thirty years ago, that a South African trawler between Port Elizabeth and East London,had fouled with its gear and eventually brought aboard a steel plate which was thought could have been a hull plate from WARATAH. The dimensions were then being sent to Barclay Curle (WARATAH's builder) for comparison with the hull expansion plan. I can't remember what the result was, if I ever knew, but suspect that if the plate had been proved to be an authentic piece of WARATAH then there would have been considerable publicity ensuing.

There has been some critcism regarding the search by WAKEFIELD and also, I think and RN cruiser, but we should remember that WARATAH, like many ships in this particular decade, was not yet fitted with radio, and her initial disappearance occurred in a sea area of very strong currents. Only six years earlier the BI passenger vessel FAZILKA on passage from Mauritius to Colombo suffered a double fracture of her tail shaft inside the stern tube. Six weeks later after almost heroic repairs augmented by sails culled from hatch tarpaulins and awnings set on yards (derrick booms) she limped into Colombo. Having no radio, she had been given up for lost.


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## tugdoc (Sep 17, 2005)

Heaps of vessels apparently have been damaged at the 100-fathom line there. Ben Line vessel was methinks Bencruachan. Far as I remember has something to do with wind against heavy current coming down the Mozambique Channel which meets at shallowing 100 fathom line. There is a description of the NEPTUNE EMERALD - which lost her bow - case in the book No cure No pay by Marc Williams.


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## K urgess (Aug 14, 2006)

Known as a "Scend". http://www.thefreedictionary.com/scend
Geoffrey Jenkins used the Waratah incident as the basis for his book "Scend of the Sea".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Waratah


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## Zahlmeister (Apr 5, 2009)

*s.s. "Waratah"*

In the Parish Church at Buckland Filleigh nr Shebbear, North Devon there is a brass plaque honouring a passenger who was on the "Waratah" and lost when she foundered. I cannot recollect details of the name first hand but I believe he was a Officer in the Army.
Zahlmeister


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## melliget (Dec 3, 2006)

Plenty of articles in Australian newspapers at the time. If you search the NLA's site for Waratah and narrow it down by year, you'll find them.
http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/home

I recall seeing quite a bit in The Times too.

regards,

Martin


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## Paul_Lee (May 2, 2008)

I recall a do***entary on the BBC saying that the south and south-east coast of South Africa were a location were one could found the so-called "monster" (60 feet high+) waves


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