Australia's Most Serious Maritime Disaster
Thirty-Six
Years
Ago
Last
Month
Units of the pearling Fleet which was practically destroyed in the disaster of March 1899, anchored at Goode Island, Torres Strait. All of the vessels shown in the pictures were lost.
PEARLING FLEET AND 307 LIVES LOST WHEN CYCLONE AND MONSOON MEET.
The disaster which befell the pearling fleet, off the north-western coast of this continent lately,
resulting in the loss of some 20 vessels and 141 lives, recalls the much more serious disaster which occurred
on the northern coast of Queensland 36 years ago, in which some 70 vessels and 307 lives were lost.
Included among the victims of the disaster which occurred on the night of March 4, 1899, was the
Channel Rock lightship with all hands.
The angel of death was abroad with a vengeance on that awful March night when the hurricane from the Pacific and the monsoon from the Arafura Sea met in mortal combat on the Queensland coast.
White men, black men, brown men and yellow men, all wed to the sea in all its moods and skilled in the handling of their craft alike perished in the onslaught which their stout little vessels were utterly unable to withstand, and not satisfied with the destruction which thc warring elements wrecked (sic) afloat the hurricane stirred up a huge tidal wave which flooded the adjacent country for some three miles inland, leaving in its wake amongst
the fallen timbers a trial (sic) of stranded marine life, including sharks and porpoises to rot in the fierce sun which afterwards shone on the scene of
desolation. |
IT was a Saturday afternoon and
there was no indication at Cape
Melville of the approaching tornado.
Seated in his office at Brisbane
Mr. Clement Wragge, one of the
most outstanding meteorologists in
the world, was making up his chart for
the day when he read ominous signs
which caused him to issue warnings
to the Far Northern ports. Unfortunately,
those warnings were not received
by the pearling fleet, for there
was no telegraph station at the Cape
and it was many years before Marconi
gave to the world a system of communication
which dispenses with metal
mediums and laughs at barriers.
Nor was there any Willis Island
atation then to give warning of the
approach of a storm.
This cyclonic storm disturbance
which Mr. Wragge had named Mahina
came in the Willis Island way and the
monsoonal disturbance which he had
christened Nachor travelled down
from the Arafura Sea.
Taking on Supplies
THE pearling fleet had come into Prin-
cess Charlotte Bay and thereabouts
for the weekend to take aboard fresh
supplies of water, to overhaul gear and
carry out other neeessary work which
could be performed only in smooth.
shallow water.
These week-ends were times of social
reunions. The men were able to stretch
their limbs and fraternise ashore or on
each other's vessels, and though the
vernaculars were varied there was the
lingua communa of "pidgin" (business)
English, as a means of general communication.
The sun set in those latitudes on the
evening of March 4 behind dark clouds
which shortly afterwards commenced to
drop their watery contents on sea and
land. There was a breeze from the
south-east and the barometer registered
29.60. |
Rocked by the now heaving waters.
the pearlers fell asleep, little thinking
that for over 300 of them there never
would be another sunrise.
The Fleet
ANCHORED at the north-west end of
Princess Charlotte Bay were the
schooner Tarawa, 124 tons, Captain D.
Jones in command with the tender Wai
Weer and 18 luggers belonging to the
Queensland Pearl Fishing Co.; the
schooner Meg Merrilees, 143 tons, Captain
W. N. Thompson. with a fleet of 14
luggers, Bowden and Doyle owners; the
schooner Olive, 92 tons, Captain Steve
Clark, with 14 luggers, James Clark and
Co., owners; and the schooner Aladdin,
102 tons, Mr. E. Munro in charge, with
14 luggers, Messrs. Munro, Outridge and
Co. owners.
Another vessel sheltering there was
the schooner Crest of the Wave, 112 tons,
Messrs. George Smith, James Clark, and
others, owners. She was commanded by
Captain Field Porter, whose wife and 18-
months-old child also were on board, in
addition to a European seaman named T.
de Lange, and a crew of 16 coloured men.
The schooner was attended by 13 luggers
with crews totalling 78, all coloured men.
The small schooner Admiral, 25 tons,
also belonging to the Clark combination,
had arrived in the Bay that morning with
a full cargo and some passengers from
Thursday Island. On board her were
five coloured men.
The lightship was under the charge of
Captain Gustaf Oscar Fuhrman, with
Mr. Douglas Lee as mate and Henry
Karr and Daniel Crowley as seamen.
The lugger, North Wales, owned by
Messrs. Aplin, Brown and Co., and com-
manded by Captain W. Powell, with a
crew of four Manila men, was anchored
at Noble Island, near Barrow Point, and
other cutters were anchored at various
other points, within the hurricane's in-
fluence.
The schooner Wanetta, with 11 luggers
fortunately had anchored farther
north beyond the storm area.
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Lasted Till 10 a.m.
IT was 10 o'clock next morning before
the storm had abated, and the sun
was able completely to dispel the darkness of that apparently interminable
night so heavily overcast were the heavens.
The sea was still heaving violently
with a tremendous swell.
Of the fine fleet which had studded
those waters on the previous afternoon
only the schooners Crest of the Wave,
Olive and Aladdin were still afloat.
The schooner Tarawa which had
dragged her anchors ten miles and the
Wai Weer were wrecked but were refloated
subsequently.
Mrs. Porter and her little girl in the
Crest of the Wave, as may be imagined,
endured untold agonies that night. Mrs.
Porter had been writing a letter in the
early part of the evening. The schooner
then was tossing a little more than usual,
but she was used to life at sea, and
retired at about 10 p.m.
She had noticed that Captain Porter
was watching the barometer more closely
than usual, and upon her asking him
if all was well, he replied that they
were apparently in for a storm, but that
so long as the wind did not shift they
would be all right.
Shrieking Wind
BEFORE long Mrs. Porter found it impossible
to sleep because of the
motion of the ship, and the wind was
beginning to shriek through the rigging.
She went on deck and could see that
the captain and his crew were taking
extra precautions to make the boats
secure.
All round was a sea which raged with
frothing wave-crests which ever and
anon broke over the Crest of the Wave.
Going down below Mrs. Porter stood
by the side of the berth in which her
little one was lying in order to prevent
the child from being thrown out on the
cabin floor. Now and again Captain
Porter rushed down to reassure his
anxious wife and little one, who now
had been awakened by the encroaching
water, which drenched the berths.
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Mother and child both became violently
seasick.
Presently the cabin windows were
smashed in by a particularly big sea and
the cabin was filled with water to the
depth of a couple of feet or so.
Mrs Porter found it difficult to stand
and lost her hold of the child which was
being washed around in the swirling
water in the cabin.
Groping around in the dark and guided
by the child's cries the mother regained
possession of her little one.
Just then Captain Porter came down
and took them to the dining cabin, where
they spent the rest of the night.
The water had found its way in considerable
quantity to that cabin also, and
Mrs. Porter gave up all hope of the ship
living out the night.
Captain Porter also admitted that he
did not see how they could last much
longer.
But at length daylight began to creep
through the skylights and hope was revived.
Next day the steamer Duke of Norfolk
which was passing noticed the disabled
schooner's distress signals and soon
mother and child were safe on board the
liner.
Two native women who swam ashore
from their craft each with a child clinging
to her hair found their litt1e ones dead
upon landing.
European Victims
THE European victims of the disaster
included:-
Messrs. Alfred St. John Outridge and
Harold Arthur Outridge, members of a
well-known Brisbane family; Edward
Charles Atthow, also was well known in
Brisbane; Captain Edward Jefferson, an
Englishman; John Henry Nicholas, the
son of a wharfinger at Thursday Island:
Captain R. B. Murray. the eldest son of
Queensland's first examiner in navigation;
and Mr. Robert Cameron, a young
Scotsman who previously had lived in
Brisbane.
The particulars from which this brief
narrative have been written were published
as a memorial by the Outridge Printing Company, Brisbane, at the time.
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