S.S. AUSTRAL
SINKING IN SYDNEY HARBOUR, AUSTRALIA, 1882.
Subsequent raising and refitting to sail on until 1903.
Written from personal research by George W. Randall, co-founder in 1996 and former Vice-Chairman Kinloch Castle Friends' Association.
SINKING IN SYDNEY HARBOUR, AUSTRALIA, 1882.
Subsequent raising and refitting to sail on until 1903.
Written from personal research by George W. Randall, co-founder in 1996 and former Vice-Chairman Kinloch Castle Friends' Association.
 |
While coaling in the early hours of 11 November 1882
(Photograph 23 from George Bullough's Photograph Album VII. Australia.)
|
*
The 5,524 ton
steamer Austral was not only the flag ship of the Orient Line
but the newest
and finest vessel on the
England to Australia route when she arrived in Sydney on her maiden voyage on 30 June 1882.
England to Australia route when she arrived in Sydney on her maiden voyage on 30 June 1882.
Less than five
months later Austral was sitting on the bottom of the harbour
in
Sydney's Neutral Bay, off Circular Quay.
On 11 November 2024 it will be 142 years since the sinking.
Sydney's Neutral Bay, off Circular Quay.
On 11 November 2024 it will be 142 years since the sinking.
*
This
article brings together in one place personal research, publicly available material and
illustrations from dozens
of sites on Google concerning the life
history of the Orient Navigation Company’s Steam Ship Austral.
of sites on Google concerning the life
history of the Orient Navigation Company’s Steam Ship Austral.
A full list of sources is given at the end of this paper.
All are gratefully acknowledged!
********
A QUICK SUMMARY OF THE
********
In
September 1892, twenty-two year old George Bullough embarked
on a
thirty five month world tour.
On Sunday, 20 May 1893 he arrived in Sydney Australia on board the restored steamer
Austral which had sunk eleven years previously while coaling
in Sydney Harbour’s Neutral Bay with the loss of five lives.
Bullough returned home in August 1895,
when he immediately set off on an eight month “supplementary cruise”
aboard
his newly purchased steam yacht “Maria” which he renamed “Rhouma”.
******************************************************
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 |
| SS Austral was classed as 100A1
in Lloyd’s Register. (The Illustrated Naval and Military Magazine.)
The ship sank at her mooring in Sydney Harbour on 11 November 1882.
  |
(Photograph 23 from George Bullough's Photograph Album VII. Australia.)
While coaling in the early hours of 11 November 1882
**** **** ****
Designed by
naval architect J. W. Shepherd, Austral was built “under
special licence
at the
Fairfield, Govan, Shipyard of John Elder &
Co., Clydebank, Scotland,
as
a passenger / cargo vessel for the Orient Steam Navigation Company, the managers of the line were Messrs. Anderson and Anderson.
In case of
emergency “Austral carried ten boats; one large steam launch,
four large life-boats, one small
life-boat (fitted to patent davits for very rapid and safe lowering in case of
‘man overboard’), two very large cutters, a mail boat and a gig. Masts, sails,
water-breakers, &c., are always kept in the boats, which are slung from the
davits on patent detaching hooks.”
 Austral had a double bottom divided into nineteen water-tight compartments with thirteen water-tight bulkheads in her hull. She was specially constructed to act as a cruiser and to carry guns in case of war, extra care was therefore taken in her design to ensure should such a need arise the vessel would be serviceable as such with minimal delay.
To meet this
need, principally the vessel’s strength, protection of vital parts from
injury, buoyancy, extraction of water and firefighting capability, the
Orient Company not only met but exceeded the requirements of
the Admiralty for a war cruiser.
In order to give
maximum protection to the engines the June 1882 edition of The
Marine Engineer states “a bed of coals several feet
deep (the coal bunkers) surrounded the engines, and beyond this
it is to be so arranged that bales of compressed wool may be stowed as
to provide armour for the whole hull of the ship.”
* Launched on 21 December 1881 and following fitting out and sea trials, Austral departed the River Clyde at 5 pm. on 29 April 1882. “After a run of 42 hours and ten minutes at a speed of 16.10
knots,” the ship sailed up the River Thames into Albert Dock
to be delivered to her owners, the Orient Line
in London on 1 May.
Austral’s maiden
voyage departed London for Sydney, Australia, via Plymouth on 20
May 1882 under Captain John Murdoch carrying 403 passengers, and cargo. 
After calling at Naples, Austral’s route
was through the Suez Canal, with re-coaling scheduled at Aden, (today Yemen), where delay
occurred owing to an outbreak of cholera on shore. Austral departed Aden on 7 July direct to Melbourne averaging 345 miles a day. In reality the
ship could make the voyage to Australia without the need to take on more fuel.
(Austral's coal bunkers held 2,500 tons equal
to 40+ days steaming at 2½ tons per hour at 17 knots.)
 *
Crossing the
Indian Ocean Austral encountered heavy seas and strong
currents due to the south-west
monsoon, finally arriving in Port Phillip Bay, Sydney on 30 June
via Melbourne and
docking at Circular Quay.
|
||||
|
After
discharging the passengers and cargo, coaling commenced for the return
journey, “this had barely
started when the ship developed a moderate list.”
This was
trimmed, but no one from Captain Murdoch down questioned
why a vessel designed
to carry 5,500 tons of cargo and coal should
exhibit clear evidence of
instability.
Built of mild
steel, the vessel was 474 feet long, 48 feet wide with a depth of 37 feet.
Austral had five
decks; a promenade deck capable of being used in all weathers; an upper deck of
steel covered with three inches of teak; the main deck also steel with three
inches of pitch-pine over; the lower deck of steel from the line of the engine
and boiler room casing out to the ship's side and covered with three inches of
pitch-pine; and the orlop deck of yellow pine 2½ inches thick.
Load line
displacement was 9,500 tons. Engines were 3
cylinder compound inverted.
 |
| Full width Dining Saloon. |
Austral had
four boilers heated by six fires giving a steam pressure of
95-lbs, sq. inch.
“The (Admiralty) contract
stipulated 5,800 indicated horse power but on the delivery run the engines
developed 7,114 horse power and coal consumption was 1.3-lbs. per hour for every
horse power indicated,” but the ship was empty of passengers and cargo and
met no inclement conditions.
*
The single 22 foot diameter propeller was driven by a hollow shaft of compressed steel and comprised four blades of neutral manganese bronze, the boss being of cast steel.
The pitch of the screw was 30 feet.
The single 22 foot diameter propeller was driven by a hollow shaft of compressed steel and comprised four blades of neutral manganese bronze, the boss being of cast steel.
The pitch of the screw was 30 feet.
 |
| Third Class passenger saloon. |
For the more technically minded, “the propelling machinery consisted of a compound
inverted cylinder surface condensing engine, having one high pressure cylinder
63 inches in diameter and two low pressure cylinders each 86 inches in diameter
with a stroke of five feet. Each cylinder was fitted with two equilibrium
piston slide valves in lieu of the ordinary flat valve slide valve.
Steam and
hydraulic gear were provided for reversing and handling the engines when
required.
Two surface condensers and pumps were placed at the back of the
engines, each low pressure engine being connected to its own condenser and air
pump.”
Austral’s Chief engineer was John McDougall.
*
The interior was “to the highest standard (with) massive
staircases of polished oak,
rich
decoration of white and gold and walnut paneling emblazoned with the coats
of
arms of England, other great nations and the British colonies.”
The owners “introduced several novelties for securing
increased comfort
and safety, including a hospital, well stocked library and a cabinet
organ
in the saloon where passengers reclined on velvet upholstered sofas,
or sat in revolving
chairs under a large
domed ceiling above magnificent painted glass panels.”
A corner of the Dining Saloon. (Illustrated London News)
Furnishings would be secured to the floor, dining chair seats would swivel on their legs.
*
The dining room was “said to be superior to those in the best Sydney hotels.”
Cabins for the time were well fitted, spacious and comfortable.
In an article on 21 March 1882 the Melbourne daily The Age wrote,
“the first-class baths are of marble and the lavatory accommodation
for all classes is unusually abundant,
even the third-class passengers have a bathroom specially reserved for them.”
“At night dynamo-electric machines generate electricity to light up the whole ship. Arc lights give a power of 3,600, and the Swan 3,400, or a total of 7,000 candles. The current was provided by two Siemens alternating current machines each driven by a separate engine strong enough to drive both.”
even the third-class passengers have a bathroom specially reserved for them.”
 |
| ABOVE: Swan Ceiling Mount Obscure Globe.
(Electrical Times)
Swan Wall Mount Obscure Globe.  |
 | |
A gangway, four feet wide, ran right along Austral’s hull sides this permitted the staterooms to be constructed with windows instead of portholes and “the portholes to be opened even in rough weather without any fear
of water entering the cabin.”
(Quote and illustration: London News - Marine Engineer) *
|
(Illustrated London News)
 |
Full width
Dining Saloon.
“The
commissariat department is well attended to, and the most hypercritical
passenger will have some difficulty finding any cause for complaint with fresh
meat, fish, butter and milk from the refrigerating chamber served with iced
wines, beer and mineral waters daily.”
(Picture and quote from: The Illustrated Naval
and Military Magazine.) 
*
|
Austral’s four
masts and topsail yards were made of steel.
The upper topsail yards were
of wood and fitted with patent reefing gear and
so constructed they could be
lowered and stowed away along the sides of
the deck when the ship was steaming
against the wind.
The fore and main sails were square rigged, the mizzen and
jigger having fore
and aft sails, together Austral carried 28,000 square feet of canvas
which was
worked by steam winches.
Should steam failure occur the winches could be worked
manually.
 |
| Oil painting of Austral under canvas by Thomas Goldsworth Dutton. |
Austral was principally powered by steam, her 2,500 ton coal bunkers being
filled through special coaling ports running amidships just below the main deck,
eight on the starboard side, seven on the port.
The coaling hatches measured 39 by 30 inches and when the ship was empty
of cargo were 54 inches above the waterline.
Coal consumption was estimated at 2½ tons per hour at average trial speed 17½ knots.
*
 | |
*
Ahead of her time in many respects, the ship had a double
bottom, an inner skin and was divided into nineteen water-tight bulkheads, with
ten rising to the main deck; above which were
seven fireproof compartments. Should fire break out “the
ship is fitted with flooding-pipes from which large quantities of water or steam can be
forced” in all parts of the vessel.
Should flooding occur the pumps could handle 11,000
gallons a minute.
Austral was
also fitted with a 13,283 cubic foot freezer room, approximately 38 x 35 x 10 feet. The “refrigeration apparatus (was) of a new
plan and of such dimensions that 17,000 sheep (carcasses) could be carried
each voyage.” The equipment was the invention of forty-two year old Archibald Douglas Bryce-Douglas, head
of the engineering department of the ship’s builders, John Elder, & Co. “Most refrigeration hitherto used to add moisture to the air in the process of cooling,” Mr. Bryce-Douglas’s invention “not only extracts the heat, but expels the air drier than when it receives it.” “Air of an ordinary
summer temperature can quickly be reduced to 30 degrees below
zero.” During the delivery run “a temperature of ten degrees below zero was maintained in the empty chamber ... ... which is located just above the propeller shaft.” |
On the evening of 3 November, 1882, after a stormy and far from trouble
free second crossing lasting fifty-four days, Austral docked at Circular Quay,
Sydney. With her passengers ashore and most of her cargo unloaded, re-coaling commenced with a collier belonging to the Bulli Coal Company, pulling
along Austral’s starboard side and secured with hawsers.
(Austral’s port was alongside Circular Quay therefore only the starboard hatches
were accessible. See picture below.)
(State Library of New South Wales)
Arriving Sydney on Friday 3 November 1882 Austral
docked port side to Circular Quay
leaving only the starboard hatches accessible
for re-coaling.
After developing a slight list coaling stopped. This
was eventually trimmed and a week later the ship was moved to the Orient Line’s
mooring off Kirribilli Point.
In the interim William Cruikshank, Government Marine Surveyor,
inspected the troublesome engines and finding a flaw in the drive shaft
recommended it be removed for repair at workshops on nearby Cockatoo Island.
NOTE: The collier’s vertical mast can be seen to the
left of Austral’s foremast
which has a definite lean to starboard.
*
Inside the
ship’s bunkers, with all coal hatches open to aid
ventilation,
eighteen trimmers laboured to evenly distribute the coal as
it was loaded.
It was not only dirty but extremely dangerous work.
All
morning they swetted; when, with 230 tons loaded, Austral suddenly
gave a marked list to starboard and coaling stopped. Foreman William Hadden
sent for his supervisor, Carl Carlson, who found the starboard coaling ports
barely eighteen inches above the waterline.
Provisioning barge along port side Austral. * >< * >< * >< * >< * >< * >< * >< * >< * >< * >< * >< * >< * >< * >< * >< *   |
Captain Murdoch
was consulted but refused a request by Carlson to carry coals
across the deck to the port side
in a bid to right the ship.
It took the crew of Woonona five
hours to put Austral back
on an even keel before
she could be moved. Warning number
two had come and gone with scant attention shown by those whose job it was to
ensure the safety of the ship and its crew.
Coaling was
stopped until Friday 10 November when Austral was moved from
Circular
Quay to the Orient Line’s mooring off Kirribilli Point, Neutral Bay,
a
distance of about one mile.
Meanwhile, Chief Government Marine Surveyor, William Douglass Cruikshank inspected the troublesome engines. During the outward voyage from England
the high pressure valve gear had twice
broken down necessitating disconnection,
the ship forced to proceed under sail assisted by
her two low
pressure engines. Mr. Cruikshank found “several minor faults
with (Austral’s) workings and a major flaw in the propeller shaft.”
(A marine
inspection was routine on all ships prior to maritime authorities issuing
the
necessary certificates enabling them to put to sea.)
At the
subsequent Inquest, Mr. Cruikshank deposed he had been
“called upon
to examine the machinery of the Austral on several occasions
since she arrived
this time. Last Wednesday, (8 November) I
suggested
that a length of the shafting should be removed from the tunnel.
It was the
length next to the engine. I had observed a flaw, hence my recommendation.
The length
weighed 10 or 12 tons. I did not consider removal of that weight from the
bottom of the ship would have affected her stability to the slightest degree.
When I examined the machinery I did not examine the valves and sea cocks.
When
I saw the vessel there was nothing in the defects of the machinery
which
rendered her un-seaworthy.”
The shaft,
technically called a “built shaft”, was made of “best steel”.
Mr. Cruikshank recommended
it removed for repair to nearby machine shops
on Cockatoo Island, about two
miles upstream.
 |
| Promenade Deck SS Austral looking aft. (The Illustrated Naval and Military Magazine.) |
This delay
was especially worrying as smallpox had broken out at Cape Town,
twenty-five
miles to the north. After three days, with repairs completed, Austral commenced
the last leg of her journey to Australia.
She soon steamed into “strong
westerly gales and huge seas” which for three days battered the vessel. One
thousand miles out from the Cape of Good Hope,
with the weather moderated, all
seemed “in capital order” until a problem
with the high-pressure piston again
required disconnection.
During the
eighteen hours for repair the canvas was unfurled and Austral
sailed
along at seven knots aided by her two low-pressure engines,
arriving Melbourne
on Wednesday, 1 November.
Despite assurances by the Pilot that the health risk
encountered at Simon's Town
did not require medical examination, immigration
officials insisted all on board
had to pass through the quarantine station.
Three days later Austral finally
berthed at Circular Quay,
Sydney, at the end
of her second voyage.
At 10 pm.
on Friday, 10 November, with fine, clear weather, no wind and the
sea dead calm,
coaling recommenced. In Austral’s bunkers the eighteen trimmers laboured to evenly
distribute the coal as it came down the chutes,
all starboard hatches were open to aid ventilation. After an hour, with thirty tons loaded, the slight list, resulting from the earlier coaling, had been corrected.
The open
ports, Foreman Hadden noted, were four feet above the waterline.
The Bulli Coal Company’s collier Woonona was contracted to coal Austral
while she was berthed at Circular Quay.
Despite
the earlier listing occurrence, the master of the collier, Captain Morwick,
received no instruction to move his vessel to the other side of Austral.
Coaling continued at 25 to 30 tons an hour and by 2.30 am. the aft reserve
bunkers were full and loading moved to the mid bunker chutes.
Half-an-hour later Foreman Hadden again checked the height of the coaling
ports and found them to be “approximately two feet” above the waterline.
He also
noted “a slight list of the vessel to starboard ... not sufficient to excite
apprehension of danger,” he recalled at the subsequent inquiry.
Coaling
continued.
The 15 coaling hatches were amidships, eight starboard, seven to port.
*
3.50 am. Saturday, 11 November, 1882.
As first light heralded the dawn of a new
day, the sound of rushing water drowned
out all other noise. Cries of “she’s
sinking!” were heard as panic broke out amongst
the trimmers as water poured in
through the loading hatches.
Lamp trimmer William Lowman, who had been assigned night
watchman,
went down to the saloon shouting “all hands on deck!” to rouse the
sleeping crew,
who because of the summer heat had opened many of the portholes
for air.
(Illustrated Sydney News)
As Austral’s list increased it threatened to crush the collier tied alongside.
“Cut the ropes” cried Captain Morwick as Woonona’s engine was started and she slowly pulled away from the sinking ship suffering no more than a broken mast.
The after part of the vessel was about ten feet under water
inclined to starboard at 13 degrees.
>< * >< >< * ><>< * ><
Forty minutes
later, at 4.30am., with 1,500 tons of coal and 200 tons of iron on board, but short of several hundred tons of water ballast, Austral sank
stern first in fifty-two feet of water with a list to starboard of thirteen
degrees. No part of her hull was visible only the upper chart house on the
port side of the bridge, the four masts and two funnels. As it was less than
eleven months since Austral was launched and only her second
sailing, her owners had the ship insured for her actual cost £200,000.*
(*
Figure quoted at the subsequent official London Inquiry. Some newspapers report £250,000 as to Austral’s actual
cost.)   |
Austral sank with a 13° list to starboard on a rising seabed of mud. View looking forward.
Note the water-tight bulkhead as integral part of the cofferdam.
Note the water-tight bulkhead as integral part of the cofferdam.
(From: The Engineer, Volume 35, Page 368 - 20 April 1883)
*
 |
| The collier Woonona pulls away safely suffering only a broken mast. (Scientific American) |
Ali
Hassin aged twenty;
Saleh and Falim Mahomet
aged 23 and 25;
purser John
James Perkins aged 29 and refrigeration engineer, Thomas Alexander,
aged
twenty-two.
The Illustrated Sydney News reported all were interred at Haslam’s Creek Cemetery.
A
Coroner’s Inquiry convened on Monday, 13 November into the deaths of the five men. Over
six days the jury heard evidence from all members of Austral’s crew
and employees of the Bulli Coal Company. Possible causes of the accident
included the removal of the ten ton drive shaft, but the main focus was on the
amount of ballast water in the tanks directly above the keel.
On the night in question they contained only 180 tons, 22% of their 800 ton capacity.
On the night in question they contained only 180 tons, 22% of their 800 ton capacity.
Had this
altered the ship's equilibrium? Was the foreman of the collier guilty for not
moving his vessel to the other side when the list became evident?
+
Before the
jury retired to consider their verdict the Coroner, Mr. J. Shiell, J.P.
explained:
“a simple error of judgement would not render the captain or any of his officers liable to
a charge of manslaughter. However if the jury felt any person was guilty of
criminal negligence and this had caused the drowning of the five men, that
person or persons would be
guilty of manslaughter.”
The jury deliberated for five hours
before returning, the foreman announcing there was no chance of a unanimous
verdict. Would Mr. Justice Shiell accept a majority verdict? “No” was the reply.
After a
further ninety minutes deliberation the jury returned saying they had agreed
on
a verdict and found “the men drowned in the steamer Austral (as a result of)
gross negligence of Captain John Murdoch and officers of the ship.”
The
Coroner replied, “Then you find the captain and his officers ... guilty of
manslaughter?” Several jurors immediately replied: “No, we do not mean that at
all!” The Coroner said in that case they had not agreed on a verdict. He
reminded them that finding any of the officers guilty of gross negligence then
that constituted manslaughter.
The jury
retired again and four hours later returned naming the captain, chief officer,
chief engineer and carpenter as “committing a gross error of judgement.”
The
wording, substituting “judgement” for “negligence” ensured all those named
were
not guilty of manslaughter.
Captain Murdoch had his Master’s Certificate suspended.
Bow section during salvage work.
The Board of Trade in London held a formal investigation “into the
With the Coroner’s Inquest concluded Captain Murdoch was petitioned to face a
Court of Marine Inquiry on 4 December in Sydney. With five days to the hearing
a letter from the Board of Trade in London was received
“requesting his Excellency the Governor (of New South Wales -
Lord Augustus William Frederick Spencer Loftus), to forgo the Inquiry.”
Justification for this unprecedented move being “the Inquiry should take place
in England where plans of the ship and evidence of certain scientific witnesses
could be taken into account.”
Despite the New South Wales’ Marine Board’s right to hold a hearing into the
sinking the Inquiry was cancelled.
Meanwhile local newspapers, particularly the Sydney Morning Herald,
disagreed. Citing the two previous occasions the vessel had clearly shown signs
of instability as evidence the captain and officers on board Austral did not
understand the conditions that affected their vessel.
That when deep in the water with cargo there was less need for ballast;
when the cargo was removed the need to increase ballast was essential to
maintain stability. The paper particularly highlighted that during the ship’s
maiden voyage Austral had developed a list when only 120 tons of coal had been
loaded for her return to England, and this in a 5,500 ton vessel!
The Board of Trade in London held a formal investigation “into the
circumstances attending the foundering of the steamship Austral in Neutral Bay, Sydney Harbour, on 11 November 1882, whereby five lives were lost" at Sessions House, Westminster, on 24 to 28 September and
1 to 3 and 6 October 1883, chaired by the Wreck Commissioner, H. C. Rothery.
The comprehensive and critical Report was published on 6 October 1883.
The Court concluded “that the ship foundered due to coaling having been continued
so long on the starboard side as to give the vessel a list sufficient to put the after port holes on that side under water, upon which the vessel filled and went down;
and that John Murdoch, the master,
and Godfrey Turner Richards, the chief officer, are to blame for the casualty,
but under (all) the circumstances it will not deal with their certificates.”
The full Board of Trade Wreck Report for Austral - 1883 can be found on Google:
The Report is comprehensive and well worth reading.
There is conjecture about the lack of stability testing prior to delivery and the
amount of water in the 800 ton ballast tanks at the time of the sinking
amount of water in the 800 ton ballast tanks at the time of the sinking
and why they were not full during re-coaling when the ship was “light”.
The ballast tanks were under the direct control of Captain Murdoch, Austral’s master.
* |
| There were no fatalities during the raising of Austral although diver George Murray was very lucky to be resuscitated after a screw in the pump to his airline became disconnected. |
Austral lay on a sloping muddy sea bed with a high risk of sinking ever deeper
and reaching a point beyond which raising her would be impossible.
With no time to lose the Orient Steam Navigation Company appointed engineers Stanford and Eldridge to proceed to Sydney to ascertain the best way to raise
their flagship liner.
Mr. George Eldridge, M.I.N.A., as the Orient Line's naval architect oversaw the whole plan in conjunction with Mr. G. Skelton Yuill, A.I.C.E., the Company’s resident Sydney manager at their 39 Pitt Street office, and Mr. John Standfield, M.Inst.C.E., for raising the ship.
On Saturday, 30 December 1882 Captain Chisholm, chief surveyor of the Surveying Department of Lloyd’s Association arrived in Sydney to represent the underwriters of the ship “and on their behalf, if necessary, to advise with regard to the plan to be adopted in raising her.”
Meanwhile sixteen divers had been busy working their way through the ship's dark interior salvaging movable and valuable articles from saloons and cabins. It was slow, dangerous work, their gear “weighed 150-lbs. when wet”, their air supply pumped through 180 feet of pipe.
Local boat
owners were quick to take advantage of interest the sinking generated.
Soon
regular excursions were leaving Circular Quay to give the paying public
a
closer look at the stricken vessel and efforts being undertaken to bring
her
back to the surface.
For
"6d. Return" one entrepreneur would transfer sightseers to the
steamer Alathea moored close to Austral for a
longer view of the salvage
work picking them up later.
RAISING OF
THE AUSTRAL
The new
steamers MASCOTTE and ELAINE leave No. 3 Jetty
every
fifteen minutes, from 6 to 6 during the day. No. 3 Jetty.
No. 3
Jetty. W. J. Harmer, Manager.
H.W.B.S.F.
Company.
*
THE
GREATEST NAUTICAL EVENT THE
WORLD HAS
EVER SEEN
THE
RAISING OF THE AUSTRAL
Steamers
will leave No. 3 Jetty through the day, and go round the Austral.
N.B. -
Note No. 3 Jetty.
No. 3 Jetty
*
RAISING
THE AUSTRAL - Steamers plying
from No. 4
Jetty every 15 minutes ONLY are allowed to
transship
passengers on board S. ALATHEA, especially moored off
Austral
for that purpose; return 6d. No. 4 Jetty only.
Another boatload of sightseers circle the stricken liner.
The white funneled vessel moored in the background is most likely the steamer
Another boatload of sightseers circle the stricken liner.
The white funneled vessel moored in the background is most likely the steamer
Alathea to which passengers could be transferred for a longer look at the recovery
work and be picked up later.
*
The initial method chosen to raise the ship was for divers to seal all open hatchways and ports, and pump the water out. Due to an “inadequacy of skilled divers” this proved impracticable so a heavily reinforced 410 foot long 30 foot deep coffer dam was constructed in weighted 16 foot sections and lowered in for assembly and “secured to the hull by bolts passed through scuttle lights and through oak toggles on the inside, and similarly to other toggles or stringers passing behind the stanchions on the promenade deck” by the divers. Made of four inch thick kauri pine planks strongly fitted together, the dam formed an encasing wall 10 inches thick rising out of the water well above deck level and heavily braced. It was made watertight by a covering of 26,000 square feet of canvas.
“The coffer dam itself was divided by a watertight bulkhead as the division gave great facilities in trimming the vessel as she rose.” |
The purpose of the coffer dam was to seal the ship, it did not encase the whole submerged vessel as in a floating dock. It extended over all port holes and loading doors - 410 feet of the vessels 470 foot length, and well above promenade deck height where it was secured with heavy timber bracing and steel hawsers.
Working day and night in shifts of six or eight hours, the divers were paid an average £1 for a six hour shift and thirty shillings (£1.50) for nine hours.
Labourers received one pound a week. It took sixteen divers and eighty-five men sixteen weeks
before the coffer dam was completed and tested.
On 26 February, 1883, everything was ready to remove over three million gallons of water weighing more than 11,500 tons.
  
|
The ship sank in 52 feet of water. The cofferdam
was constructed to withstand the lateral pressure
of 9-lbs. per square inch (almost 1,300-lbs. per square foot) the water outside
as the water in the vessel was pumped out.
of 9-lbs. per square inch (almost 1,300-lbs. per square foot) the water outside
as the water in the vessel was pumped out.
On Tuesday, 13
March 1883, 122 days after she sank and barely two weeks since pumping
began, Austral rose from the sea bed of Neutral Bay. With most of the
water pumped out it was now possible to inspect the interior of the ship. The Sydney
Morning Herald reported:
“The
first apartment entered from the promenade deck was the drawing room. The
walls, formerly of enamel and gold, the domed ceiling and windows ornamented
with graceful scroll work, the furniture cushioned with pale blue velvet, the
floor covered with thick Indian carpets and windows curtained with fabric of
white silk and gold thread, were now black and stained, the windows broken, the
curtains torn down and the velvet furniture and costly carpets rotted to ruin.
Passing down the massive staircase into the dining saloon, built to accommodate
120 diners, the same destruction was witnessed on a larger scale. Formerly the
ceilings of this magnificent room was decorated with white and gold, the end
walls ornamented with carved and emblazoned coats of arms of European nations
and British Colonies, the revolving chairs, cushioned with ruby velvet and the
saloon lighted by patent glass panels on each side, now the decorations are
obliterated, the velvet completely rotted and stripped off the chairs, the
coats of arms partly destroyed, the windows smashed and the handsome veneering
so saturated it strips off like paper. In the state rooms the same process of
destruction, everything not plain and solid, books wardrobes, settees, spring
mattresses, electric lamps, everything, all hopelessly ruined.”
*
As more
water was pumped out it became possible to see clearly the damage below deck.
“The scene of destruction is impossible to convey”, wrote a
reporter in The Sydney Mail, “the passages, cabins and floors are
covered in inches of black, slimy mud. The walls and ceilings blackened,
saturated with salt water and covered in marine growth. The stench of the bilge
water and the worst experience of all going through the storerooms with the
decayed and stinking supplies of flour, meat, tea, &c., which have been
soaking there for four months. Two of the men sent to clear the storeroom were
completely overpowered with fits of vomiting.”
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|
Water had
initially poured in through the coaling hatches, then through the open
portholes, but once the deck was below sea level an appalling volume of water
surged down stairways and ventilator shafts, tearing doors off their hinges,
smashing walls, furniture, everything in its path; a massive tsunami sweeping
everything in its path in the confines of the ship.
Whilst the
open portholes had allowed water in they now provided a way out for crew members suddenly awakened from their slumbers.
*
*
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| Workshops Cockatoo Island. |
"Unfortunately, a series of exceptionally low tides thwarted to slipping of the vessel and it became necessary to dock the ship each night
as it was too risky on account of the inside dimensions of the dry dock."
However, better news came when the engine room was examined.
However, better news came when the engine room was examined.
It was feared the engines and associated machinery would have been totally destroyed by the action of the sea water but this proved not to be the case. Following stripping down, a good clean and overhaul, most key parts were returned to working order.
Within twelve
weeks of entering dry dock newspapers reported Austral was cleaned
and repaired sufficiently to be returned for
refitting to her builders
at the Clydebank Shipyard of John
Elder & Co.
But first, on 28
May 1883, amid much fanfare a group of distinguished guests and those
associated
with the vessels reconditioning were invited for a trial run to test
the engines and handling
in preparation for departure to Scotland.
At 11.45am the
steamer Prince of Wales transferred 250 guests from Circular Quay
to the waiting Austral. Forty-five minutes later the tug Prince Alfred turned Austral’s
prow towards the open sea and she was underway.
Out of the harbour Austral turned right and set off down the coast gradually building up speed
while her guests dined and toasted the “success of the Orient Company.”
Captain Slader took his charge to almost 17 knots, informing journalists
he was going to sail her home to Great Britain via Cape Horn.
Out of the harbour Austral turned right and set off down the coast gradually building up speed
while her guests dined and toasted the “success of the Orient Company.”
Captain Slader took his charge to almost 17 knots, informing journalists
he was going to sail her home to Great Britain via Cape Horn.
Abreast of
Port Hacking Austral turned and made
her way back to harbour,
ending what was described “as a pleasant afternoon.”
 |
The Maitland Mercury - 2 June 1883. Melbourne Argus - 29 May 1883.
Austral was
scheduled to leave Sydney under her own power on 5 June 1883 via Cape
Horn for Scotland under the command of Captain Henry Yorke Slader, R.N.R.,
she carried no passengers or cargo. Austral arrived
back in London on 3 August, fifty-nine days later.
Three days later
she sailed to her original builders at Glasgow and berthed into Queen's
Dock “to be refitted and redecorated in the same manner as before her
accident.”
At the same time
a series of stability tests were carried out. This involved moving a 10-ton
weight to various positions around the promenade deck and measuring the incline
of the hull.
At the London
Inquiry her designer, Mr. J. Shepherd, told the court he had neglected to carry
out any such test previously stating the builders were being pressed to deliver
the vessel and he “did not think, knowing the style of the ship that it was
necessary to do so,” adding, “he had designed the Orient (sister
ship to Austral)
and she was supposed to be the finest ship in the world.
Austral was intended to be an improvement having two feet more
beam.”
While anchored
in the River Clyde Austral was
rammed by the S.S. Cassia.
Incident Report from: Transactions of the Institution of Naval
Architects Volume XXVII:
*
SS Orient sister ship to SS Austral.
Built
1879 by John Elder & Co., Orient was the Orient Steam Navigation Company's first ship.
Single
screw, rigged for sail, speed 15 knots. 5,386 tons gross. 460 feet in length with a 46.3 foot beam and depth of 35 feet. Designed to carry 550 passengers. When
registered Orient was the largest ship in the world apart from Brunel's 19,000 ton Great Eastern.
Orient was scrapped in 1910 after
thirty-one years’ service.
(Photograph 22 from George Bullough's
Photograph Album VII. Australia.)
*
The stability tests
found that it was the deserted aft coaling ports that began to fill first.
The ship had in
fact been taking water for a considerable time before it was noticed by the men
coaling the forward ports. The examiners also found that if the whole of the
120 tons of coal had been loaded in pocket bunkers situated within 7 feet of
the side of the vessel this would explain how the accident happened. They
added “these valuable vessels should not be sent to sea till all the curves of
stability had been drawn, and measures taken to ascertain what cargoes they
were capable of carrying under varying conditions.” Despite this, the tests
found Austral “was
under almost every conceivable condition a very stable vessel.”
On 6 October the
investigating Court handed down its decision, stating the ship’s sinking was
caused be a series of small mistakes. “It was a mistake by the owners sending
the ship to sea without calculating her stability, and supplying the captain
with the information. It was a mistake to send her to sea with only four
certified officers. (The court recommended six.) It was a mistake of the
captain not to have taken warning from the previous lists, and to have turned
in without satisfying himself that the chief officer was vigilant and attentive
to his duties. It was a mistake of the chief officer to leave the ship in
charge of a watchman and turn in himself.”
Despite this the
court did not cancel or suspend either man’s ticket.
The total cost
of raising, cleaning and repairing the vessel, put at £50,000,
was defrayed by
the underwriters. >< + >< + >< +>< + >< + >< +>< + >< + >< +>< + >< + >< + ><
In April 1884, reconditioned to her former glory, Austral was
subjected to a series of sea trials before being chartered by the Anchor
Steamship Company for two voyages to New York from Liverpool prior to returning
to her Orient Line Australia route.
Returned to her owners, the Orient Line, Austral left
London on 21 November 1884 with 657 passengers bound for Sydney; forty-two days
later, 2 January 1885 she entered Sydney harbour. Only two of Austral's original crew, chief engineer John McDougall
and second officer Mr. O. Marshall, served on-board. 
(La Trobe Picture Collection - State Library of Victoria.)
Fancy dress on board Austral.
*
 *
The press
reported “the voyage throughout was rendered most enjoyable, concerts and other
entertainment, including a fancy dress being given. The latter proved a great
success all the ladies taking part and the handsome sum of 120 pounds being
realised for the different marine charities.”
Sadly during the
voyage three passengers died ... ...
Because of her unfortunate record maritime
superstition might have concluded
Austral was an unlucky ship, this was not the case. Apart from a brief spell requisitioned as a troopship during the Boer War Austral continued in service as a passenger /cargo liner for a further twenty years becoming a familiar and popular sight in Sydney Harbour.
On 5 January
1903 the pride of the Orient Line arrived in Sydney on her fifty-second voyage.
Twelve days
later she departed Circular Quay for the last time.
In May 1903 Austral left
London for the Italian port of Genoa to be broken up.
for a sum amounting
to between £13,000 and £14,000.”
The Sydney
Illustrated News commented:
“The sinking of
the magnificent Orient steamer Austral is an occurrence almost
without precedence in the annals of Maritime history.”
PLAN OF AUSTRAL FROM ORIENT LINE GUIDE 1888. Digitised from Google  
*
 Oil painting of Austral by Thomas Goldsworth Dutton
(c.1818-1891)
Dutton is recognised as the finest nineteenth century lithographer to record shipping and shipping scenes, he is also a noted water-colourist and oil painter.
 Watercolour of Austral by William Lionel Wyllie - 1882 NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM GREENWICH *
This
article brings together in one place publicly available material and illustrations from dozens of sites by searching key words on Google. The text is the result of on-going research by the author stimulated by the
single photograph of SS Austral in the library at Kinloch Castle, Scotland, collected by George Bullough,
(later Sir George, Baronet), during his
world travels in the late 19th century.
The twenty volumes of over six hundred
pictures record events, places and people
from almost every continent, and all
have a story to tell.
The raising of the passenger / cargo
liner SS
Austral in
March 1883 from the seabed of Sydney harbour, the ship returning half way round the world via Cape Horn under her own power to her builders in Scotland for complete restoration, her return to service for another twenty years represents an
incredible piece of Victorian engineering doggedness and human ingenuity.
Watercolour SS Austral by William Lionel Wyllie [1851-1931]
*   << >> << >> << >> * << >> << >> << >>     References: Scientific American Supplement - February 1883, June 1883 Money Market Review - April 1884 Illustrated Sydney News - 1883 Illustrated London News - 1882 The Illustrated Australian News - March 1883 The Marine Engineer – Jan. 1882, June 1882, Nov. 1882, Dec. 1882, May 1883, June 1903. The Sydney Morning Herald January, March and April 1883 The Engineer - April and October 1883 The Sydney Mail - November 1882 and February 1883 Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers – Raising the S.S. Austral 1883 United Kingdom Wreck Report for Austral Published 1883 The Melbourne Age November - 1882 Melbourne Argus - May 1883 The Mercury (Tasmania) - July 1882 The Daily Telegraph - March 1883 Remembering the Classic Liners of Yesteryear – www.ssmaritime.com Grey River Argus - 1883 Timaru Herald(New Zealand) - November 1882 Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute - Volume IX 1883 The Bendigo Advertiser - November 1882 The Granville Guardian - August 2010 Electrical Times Volume 1 - 1891 Orient Line Guide 1888 (Google) The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River Advertiser June - 1883 New Zealand Press (Issue 5353) - 1882 Taranaki Herald (New Zealand) - November 1882 The Inangahua Times - issue 1202, 1203 - December 1882 New Zealand Herald - November 1882, February 1883 Australian Government Archives The Bendigo Advertiser The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River Advertiser June - 1883 State Library of New South Wales George W. Randall Research Archive 1992-2017 The Wreck Report for SS Austral, 1883 - Port Cities Southampton The Press (New Zealand) - November 1882 Timaru Herald (New Zealand) November 1882 National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London. (Watercolour) The Illustrated Naval and Military Magazine - Volume III 1885 Transactions of the Institution of Naval Architects - Volume XXVI 1885 Transactions of the Institution of Naval Architects - Volume XXVII 1886 The British Merchant Service Journal Volume IV - 1882 Photo SS Austral Allan C. Green - State Library of Victoria Ship of the Age - Austral - pages 46 - 59 Chris Frame Official - SS Austral Sinking Modern Shipbuilding and the Men Engaged In It (David Pollock) - Published 1884 La Trobe Picture Collection - State Library of Victoria Raising the SS Austral - Paper 1939 by John Standfield, M. Inst. C.E. All sources, without which this article would not have been possible, are hereby gratefully acknowledged. *       REVIEWED WITH ADDED MATERIAL BY GEORGE W. RANDALL 13 FEBRUARY 2024 Text Copyright GEORGE W. RANDALL RESEARCH AND PHOTOGRAPHIC ARCHIVE |
