Loch Vennachar in port
History
United Kingdom
NameLoch Vennachar
NamesakeLoch Venachar
Owner
  • 1875: Aitken & Lilburn
  • 1884: John P Kidston & others
  • 1888: George J Kidston & others
  • 1894: John P Kidston & others
OperatorGlasgow Shipping Co
Port of registryGlasgow
BuilderJ&G Thomson, Dalmuir
Launched4 August 1875
Maiden voyage9 September 1875
Identification
Fatesank September 1905
General characteristics
Typeclipper
Tonnage1,557 GRT, 1,485 NRT
Length250.1 ft (76.2 m)
Beam38.3 ft (11.7 m)
Sail plan3-masted square-rigged ship
Speed15 knots (28 km/h)
Notessister ship: Loch Garry

Loch Vennachar was an iron-hulled, three-masted clipper ship that was built in Scotland in 1875 and lost with all hands off the coast of South Australia in 1905. She spent her entire career with the Glasgow Shipping Company, trading between Britain and Australia. The company was familiarly called the "Loch Line", as all of its ships were named after Scottish lochs. The ship was named after Loch Venachar, in what was then Perthshire.

In 1892 Loch Vennachar survived being dismasted by a cyclone in the Indian Ocean. In 1901 she was sunk when a steamship collided with her in the Thames Estuary. She was raised, repaired and returned to service. In 1905 she sank again off Kangaroo Island.

In 1976 marine archaeologists found Loch Vennachar's wreck just off West Bay, Kangaroo Island. The Commonwealth Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976 protects the wreck. Parts of one of her anchors were recovered in 1980 and are now preserved on Kangaroo Island.

Building

James and George Thomson built Loch Vennachar at Dalmuir[1] on the River Clyde, launching her on 4 August 1875.[2] Her registered length was 250.1 ft (76.2 m), her beam was 38.3 ft (11.7 m) and the depth of her hold was 22.4 ft (6.8 m). Her tonnages were 1,557 GRT and 1,485 NRT.[3]

The Glasgow Shipping Company registered Loch Vennachar at Glasgow. Her UK official number was 71748 and her code letters were PCVQ.[1][3]

The ship was first rigged with fidded royal masts, but this proved to interfere with her stability as there was too much weight aloft. She was then given topgallant and royal masts in one with crossed royal yards over double-topgallants.

Career

Loch Vennachar was always in the wool trade from Adelaide and Melbourne to Britain. Her usual cargo was usually about 5,500 bales of wool. On voyages from Britain to Australia she carried other cargo,[4] and also passengers.[5] When sailing from Melbourne, her wool cargoes were organised by John Sanderson & Co. A book about the firm includes a painting of the ship off Port Phillip Heads.[6]

Captain Francis Wagstaff commanded her on her maiden voyage, leaving Inishtrahull on 6 September 1875. Captain William Robertson succeeded him early in 1876, but died in 1878 after making two voyages in her. Her First Officer, James S Ozanne, was promoted to captain, and commanded her until 1884. He was succeeded by Captain William H Bennett, who retired in 1904.[7] Captain William S Hawkins commanded her on her final voyage in 1905.[8]

Loch Vennachar at Port Louis in 1892, showing cyclone damage

In June 1892 a cyclone dismasted the ship in the Indian Ocean.[9] At about 8pm on 3 June, the barometer shoews a fall in pressure. Loch Vennachar's crew promptly shortened her sail. At dawn, about 5am, terrific head seas driven by a northeast gale hit the ship. Two large waves hit her. She rode the first and sank into the trough beyond. The second wave broke over her deck, breaking all three of her masts. With little left of her masts to steady her, the ship rolled dangerously in heavy seas.[4][8]

After nine days, the weather eased and her crew rigged a spar forward and sail on the damaged mizzen mast. After five weeks she reached Port Louis, Mauritius. She waited there for five months for new spars. When they arrived from England, she was repaired in ten days.[4] The repairs cost £9,071. She left Port Louis in 18 November and reached Port Phillip on 22 December. Lloyd's of London awarded Captain Bennett its Lloyd's Medal for Saving Life at Sea.[8]

On 12 November 1901 Loch Vennachar was anchored in the Thames Estuary off Thameshaven in Essex when at about 4.15am the steamship Cato collided with her starboard bow. Loch Vennachar sank and one seaman suffered a critical head injury, but the crew launched her boats and all 30 members of her crew were saved.[10] Six of her seven ship's cats were lost. She was raised on 9 December, repaired at a cost of £17,000, and returned to service.[2][8][11]

Final voyage

Artist's impression of Loch Vennachar (left) being sighted by Yongala (right)

Late in June 1905 Loch Vennachar left Glasgow for Adelaide, carrying a general cargo including 20,000 bricks. On 6 September 1905 Yongala overtook her about 160 nautical miles (300 km) west of the Neptune Islands and the captains exchanged "all's well" signals.[12] Yongala's captain recorded that Loch Vennachar made a pretty sight, speeding along with her sails in full standing.[13] It was the last known sighting of Loch Vennachar.

On 29 September, the ketch Annie Watt arrived in Adelaide and her captain reported picking up a reel of blue printing paper 18 miles northwest of Kangaroo Island. The paper was identified as part of Loch Vennachar's cargo.[8][14] Three weeks later, the sea began delivering scraps of her cargo to the rocky coast of Kangaroo Island, which confirmed her loss. Twice the steamship Governor Musgrave was sent to search for the wreck and any survivors. Weeks of searching by government and local fishing boats produced only flotsam and the body of a young seaman, who was never identified. He was buried in the sand hills of West Bay.[13] The search was eventually abandoned on 12 October.

At the time, it was incorrectly concluded that Loch Vennachar was wrecked on Young Rocks, a granite outcrop about 20 miles south-southwest of Cape Gantheaume, trying to make the Backstairs Passage.[8]

Crew on final voyage

Captain William Hawkins and Chief Officer James Priest
From left: D.S.M. Thomson, Thomas Pearce (apprentice) and Joseph Hadley

The first list of people likely to be on the ship at the time of her loss appeared in newspapers late in September 1905. This list, containing 23 names of people who could be either crew or passengers, was compiled from letters waiting for collection by the ship at the offices of George Wills & Co, the ship's agent in Adelaide.[15] A later newspaper article advised that apprentices S.C. Brown and Robert Andrews,ef whose names had been included in the earlier list, had transferred from Loch Vennachar to Loch Garry and Loch Torridon respectively.[16] Late in November 1905, the following list was published in a number of newspapers in Australia, New Zealand and Scotland. This list which "was received at Fremantle by the English mail" indicates that there were no passengers on the last voyage.[17] In the list, the abbreviations A.B. and O.S. refer respectively to able seaman and ordinary seaman.

  • William S. Hawkins, master, Glasgow
  • James Priest, mate, North Shields
  • Charles Radcliffe, second mate, USA
  • Fred. W. Lake, third mate, Melbourne
  • James Reid, carpenter, Dumbarton
  • W. Molseed, steward, Greenock
  • W. McLean, cook, Glasgow
  • R. Simpson, sailmaker, Greenock
  • Eugen Broberg, A.B., Stockholm
  • Donald Mathieson, A.B., Skye
  • A. Anderson, A.B., Kragero
  • E: McEwan, A.B., Greenock
  • Thomas Anderson, A.B., Arandel
  • Hugh Humphreys, A.B., Portmadoc
  • Alexander Dunlop, A.B., Rothesay
  • M. Jenson, A.B., Aarhus
  • David Hanson, A.B., Bergen
  • E. Holden, A.B., Newark, N.J.
  • John Bickle, A.B., Edinburgh
  • William Barry, A.B., Adelaide
  • Edward McPhie, O.S., Morven
  • William Turnbull, O.S., Grangemouth
  • William Martin, O.S., Glasgow
  • Joseph W. Hadley, apprentice, Wivenhoe
  • Thomas W. Pearce, apprentice, Southampton
  • D.S.B. Thomson, apprentice, Melbourne
  • Horace Eastwood, apprentice, Knottingley

The death of Thomas Pearce received attention in the Australian press because his father, Thomas R Pearce, was well known as one of two survivors of the Loch Ard wreck in 1878, and his step-grandfather, Captain Robert Pearce,[18] died in command of SS Gothenburg when she was lost in 1875.[19]

Cape du Couedic Lighthouse

Cape du Couedic Lighthouse

The loss of Loch Vennachar followed that of Loch Sloy in 1899. In 1902 the Marine Board of South Australia had recommended building a lignthouse on Cape du Couedic, but this was not done. The Board considered that such a lighthouse could have prevented the loss of both ships. Building began in 1907 and Cape du Couedic Lighthouse was officially lit on 27 June 1909.[20][21] In 1908 the northern headland of West Bay was named Vennachar Point in the memory of the ship.[22]

Discovery

In February 1976 the Society for Underwater Historical Research (SUHR) searched for the wreck off the west coast of Kangaroo Island. On 24 February conditions were unsuitable for an underwater search, so the shore was searched at the foot of cliffs just north of West Bay. A brick with the letters "GLAS...OW" on one face was found.

On 26 February conditions were suitable for scuba diving, so three SUHR divers and two local divers searched the sea where the brick was found. They found the wreck at a depth of 12 metres (39 ft).[23][24][25] All of her anchors were still in place, which suggested that no attempt had been made to prevent her from hitting the cliff.

Expedition

Aerial view of the wreck site on Kangaroo Island

After lobbying by the SUHR, the Premier of South Australia, Don Dunstan, announced on 11 December 1976 that the SUHR would mount an expedition in February 1977 to study the site, for which the state government would provide ten police divers, special leave for government employees involved with the expedition, and concessional fares on the government-owned ferry, Troubridge. He also declared the area of the wreck site a historic reserve under South Australia's Aboriginal and Historic Relics Preservation Act 1965.[26][27][28]

In February 1977, a team of 34 people set up camp at West Bay for a stay of two weeks. Due to unsuitable diving conditions, the first week was spent diving on the Fides shipwreck on the north coast of Kangaroo Island. The second week was spent at the Loch Vennachar wreck. The SUHR established the location of the wreck site in relation to the land, surveyed the wreck's bow and found its main anchors, photographically recorded the site and recovered a selection of artefacts for conservation. The expedition was funded by member contributions plus the donation of services, goods and cash from four government agencies, 35 private businesses and numerous individuals.[26][29]

The expedition's report recommended conserving one of the bower anchors. This was done in 1980. The SUHR collaborated with the state government and the Kangaroo Island Scuba Club, assisted by 23 government agencies, private organisations and individuals. On 31 March an anchor shank was recovered from the wreck, followed by its stock the next day. Both parts were stored in the water of West Bay until the fishing boat Lady Buick transferred them to Kingscote in April and May 1980 respectively. They were then taken to Port Adelaide; the shank on Troubridge and the stock on HMAS Banks.

Amdel in Adelaide conserved the anchor. It was returned to Kangaroo Island where it was put on display at the Flinders Chase Homestead in the Flinders Chase National Park, with a formal ceremony on 26 March 1982 attended by David Wotton, the SA Minister of Environment and Planning.[30][31][32]

Present day

The wreck site has been protected by the Commonwealth Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976 since October 1980.[33] Its location is officially recorded as 35°52′48″S 136°31′12″E / 35.88000°S 136.52000°E / -35.88000; 136.52000.[34] In 1980 the area protected as a historic reserve declared under the Aboriginal and Historic Relics Preservation Act 1965 was listed on the then Register of the National Estate.[35] The grave of the unidentified seafarer remains at West Bay, but with a replica wooden cross as the original one made from spars from the wreckage was vandalised in the 1970s.[23][36][37] By 2006 the bower anchor had been moved from the Flinders Chase Homestead to a site next to the visitors' car park on the south side of West Bay.[37][38]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Mercantile Navy List. London. 1876. p. 339 – via Crew List Index Project.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. 1 2 "Loch Vennachar". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  3. 1 2 Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1876. LOC – via Internet Archive.
  4. 1 2 3 Loch Vennachar expedition report. Kent Town, SA: Society for Underwater Historical Research. 1977. ISBN 0-9597500-1-0. OCLC 27625714.
  5. ↑ Scrope, Stephen, 71, The Drive, Hove, 8 October (10 October 1931). "`". Letters to the Editor. The Times. No. 45950. London. col B, p. 8.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) "In the year 1896 I left Glasgow in the Loch Vennachar for Melbourne, and had a wonderful run. Captain Bennett, who was a fine sailor, was in command, and taking the time from when we passed Ailsa Craig, in the Firth of Clyde, to Kangaroo Island, just outside Adelaide, we did the journey in 81 days. When we were "running our Easting down" in the Southern Ocean we on one occasion averaged 15 knots an hour for a period of over 24 hours. Her registered tonnage was 1,500, and the cabin accommodation and food were excellent."
  6. ↑ Gillison, Joan (1958). Wool and Ships: The Story of John Sanderson and Co. Melbourne: John Sanderson & Co. p. 3.
  7. ↑ Say, G.B., Chief Assistant Secretary. The Imperial Merchant Service Guild, Liverpool, 16 October (20 October 1931). "`". Letters to the Editor. The Times. No. 45958. London. col B, p. 10.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) "Sir, – With reference to the interesting letters which have appeared in your columns recently regarding the sailing ship Loch Vennachar and the master, that fine seaman Captain W. H. Bennett, no doubt your readers will be interested in the following extract from a letter which I have received to-day from his son, Mr. J. W. Bennett, who resides in London:- "My father was 85 years of age at his death, and left the Loch Vennachar in Melbourne in 1904,..."
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lubbock, Basil (1921). The Colonial Clippers. Glasgow: Brown, Son & Ferguson. pp. 263–265. OCLC 185535859 – via Internet Archive.
  9. ↑ "Wrecks that Mark the Seven Seas from Glasgow to Australia". The New York Times. 7 May 1911. p. 61. Retrieved 23 March 2008 – via Times Machine.
  10. ↑ "`". The Times. No. 36611. London. 13 November 1901. col D, p. 6.
  11. ↑ "`". The Times. No. 45953. London. 14 October 1931. col E, p. 8.
  12. ↑ "Shipping Disasters". The Times. No. 37824. London. 28 September 1905. col F, p. 4. Quoting a telegram received through Lloyds: "Loch Vennachar was passed on 6th 35 21 south, 133 east; she signalled all well; several gales since from north, changing west south cyclonic."
  13. 1 2 Gleeson, Max (1987). S.S. Yongala: dive to the past. Sydney, NSW: Turton & Armstrong Publishers. p. 19. ISBN 0-908031-31-9. OCLC 27579405.
  14. ↑ "`". The Times. No. 37825. London. 29 September 1905. col F, p. 4. "Messrs. Aitken, Lilburn, and Co., managers of the Loch Line, have received a telegram from their Adelaide agents confirming the discovery of wreckage, including paper and tinned fish with the same trade-marks as that shipped in the Loch Vennachar."
  15. ↑ ""Crew and Passengers", in "Wreckage on Kangaroo Island. Cargo and figurehead washed ashore. Is it the Loch Vennachar?"". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 28 September 1905. p. 7. Retrieved 8 October 2013 – via Trove.
  16. ↑ "Apprentices accounted for". The Register. Adelaide. 3 October 1905. p. 8. Retrieved 8 October 2013 – via Trove.
  17. ↑ "The Loss of the Loch Vennachar". The Register. Adelaide. 25 November 1905. p. 6. Retrieved 8 October 2013 – via Trove.
  18. ↑ "Loss of the Gothenburg". The Illustrated Australian News for Home Readers. Melbourne. 24 March 1875. p. 42 – via Trove.
  19. ↑ "A much-wrecked family". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 30 September 1905. p. 13. Retrieved 8 October 2013 – via Trove.
  20. ↑ "Lighthouse, Cape Du Couedic Rd, Parndana, SA, Australia". Australian Heritage Database. Australian Government. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  21. ↑ "Lighthouse for Cape Couedie". The Register. Adelaide. 12 May 1906. p. 6. Retrieved 8 October 2013 – via Trove.
  22. ↑ ""New Coastal Names", in "General News"". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 18 September 1908. p. 8. Retrieved 8 October 2013 – via Trove.
  23. 1 2 Christopher, Peter (1979). "Some South Australian Shipwrecks". The Journal of the Historical Society of South Australia. North Adelaide: Historical Society of South Australia (6): 9.
  24. ↑ Council for Nautical Archaeology (May 1979). "'". International Journal of Nautical Archaeology and Underwater Exploration. London. 8 (2): 169–178. ISSN 0305-7445. OCLC 1037043.
  25. ↑ Reschke, W (14 March 1976). "Lady in a rocky coffin: the finding of Loch Vennachar". The Sunday Mail. Adelaide. pp. 46, 115.
  26. 1 2 Marfleet, B; Hale, A (1977). "Logistics of Loch Vennachar Expedition 1977". Loch Vennachar expedition report. Kent Town, SA: Society for Underwater Historical Research. p. 2.
  27. ↑ Reschke, W (12 December 1976). "High risks for divers". The Sunday Mail. Adelaide. p. 5.
  28. ↑ Chatterton, BA (13 January 1977). "Aboriginal and Historic Relics Preservation Act, 1965: Area of Sea Bed near West Bay, Kangaroo Island — Historic Reserve Declared" (PDF). The South Australian Government Gazette. Government of South Australia. p. 46. Retrieved 11 June 2019. An area of the bed of the sea near West Bay, Kangaroo Island seaward of the cliff top in a circle having as its centre a point longitude 136° 32' east, latitude 35° 53' 05" south and having a radius of 250 metres.
  29. ↑ Steward, G (1977). "Loch Vennachar – Expedition Leaders Report". Loch Vennachar expedition report. KentTown, SA: Society for Underwater Historical Research. pp. 1, 5.
  30. ↑ Steward, G (1977). "Loch Vennachar – Expedition Leaders Report". Loch Vennachar expedition report. KentTown, SA: Society for Underwater Historical Research. p. 6.
  31. ↑ Jeffery, W (1980). "Raising the Loch Vennachar Anchor". Bulletin of the Australian Institute for Maritime Archaeology. 4: 6–7.
  32. ↑ Kentish, P; Booth, B (1983). Conservation of the Loch Vennachar anchor. North Adelaide: Society for Underwater Historical Research. pp. 5–8, 15–18.
  33. ↑ "Proclamation – Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976 – South Australia". Federal Register of Legislation. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  34. ↑ "View Shipwreck – Loch Vennachar". Australian National Shipwreck Database. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  35. ↑ "Loch Vennachar Historic Reserve, South Coast Rd, Vennachar Point via Parndana, SA, Australia (Place ID 7455)". Australian Heritage Database. Australian Government. 11 August 1987. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  36. ↑ Steward, G (1977). "Loch Vennachar – Expedition Leaders Report". Loch Vennachar expedition report. KentTown, SA: Society for Underwater Historical Research. p. 4.
  37. 1 2 Smith, Andrea (2006). "The Maritime Cultural Landscape of Kangaroo Island, South Australia: A Study of Kingscote and West Bay" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2009. Retrieved 21 August 2012.unpublished thesis for the Honours Degree of the Bachelor of Archaeology, Department of Archaeology, Flinders University, South Australia, pages 54–55
  38. ↑ "Flinders Chase National Park, Kelly Hill Conservation Park, Ravine des Casoars Wilderness Protection Area and Cape Bouguer Wilderness Protection Area Management Plans" (PDF). Department for Environment, Heritage and Aboriginal Affairs. 1999. p. 38. Retrieved 1 May 2014.

Further reading

  • Chapman, Gifford D (2007). Kangaroo Island shipwrecks: an account of the ships and cutters wrecked around Kangaroo Island. Kingscote, SA: Gifford Chapman. ISBN 978-0646477794.
  • Christopher, Peter (2009). Australian Shipwrecks; A Pictorial History. Stepney, SA: Axiom. ISBN 978-1864765885.
  • McKinnon, R (1993). Shipwreck sites of Kangaroo Island. Adelaide: State Heritage Branch, Department of Environment and Land Management. ISBN 0730826929.
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