Catterthun wrecked on Seal Rocks
8th August 1895
E&A line placed an order at the shipbuilding
yards of W Doxford and Sons of Sunderland for two steamers and both
were completed in 1881. Their names were Catterthun and Tannadice
On the 26th May 1881, Catterthun departed Sunderland on her maiden voyage under the command of Captain J. Miller. The vessel
sailed via Port
Said and Singapore and when approximately eighty miles from Hong Kong, sighted the Siamese barque, Fabius flying distress flags. Catterthun
came to her aid and discovered the vessel was leaking badly. A tow line was
secured and the barque was towed to the safety of Hong Kong harbour. After several days the vessel continued on her voyage calling
at Foochow, where she loaded 2,500 ton of tea.
On July 12th, 1895, Catterthun arrived in Sydney Harbour from the East for the last time. The Daily Telegraph reported: " The first consignment of the new seasons tea from Foochow, arrived last evening by the E & A company steamer Catterthun. The
vessel called in at Hong Kong and made the voyage in 17 days and 14 hours".
After several days, the ship continued her voyage to Melbourne and Adelaide and again returned to Sydney. Catterthun's compass was routinely adjusted at this
time and several days later, at the request of her Captain, Neil Shannon, a new
bridge was fitted along the lines of the old one. However, it appears the
compass was not readjusted upon the completion of the new work.
On July 31st, with just the crew on board,
the ship sailed down to Port Kembla to replenish her bunkers. Catterthun once
again returned to Sydney on August 2nd to load cargo and mails and await her
passengers for the return journey to the East. Besides the usual general cargo
taken aboard the vessel, Catterthun carried a huge consignment of sovereigns
bound for the E S & A bank in Darwin and a number of Chinese merchants in Hong Kong. Ten boxes containing a total of 8,915 gold coins were placed in a
large iron tank known as a specie chamber. The entrance to the tank was through
a small manhole located on the chartroom floor. At 4.30 pm, on the bitterly cold afternoon of August 7th, 1895, the Catterthun left the company wharf and began her
slow journey up the harbour .The protection of the port quickly disappeared as
the vessel sailed out into the white -capped covered ocean. Chief Officer
William Pinney took the first watch. In the approaching darkness he cleared the
vessel past North Head by one and a half I miles and set a northerly course in
the high following sea. Shortly after, Second I Officer Alfred Lanfear, went to the chartroom and laid out the appropriate
chart I and instruments for the captain, for this first part of the voyage.
However, no conversation regarding the navigation of the ship took place
between him and the captain at this stage of the night. Only four Europeans out
of seventeen on board would survive the wreck of the Catterthun -Lanfear would
be one of them. The south westerly gale severely buffeted the vessel as she
made her way up the coast. Waves were constantly sweeping the deck, making
conditions extremely uncomfortable for the passengers below. The Catterthun's
three female saloon passengers, Mrs Mathias and Mrs and Miss Loring, were
evidently feeling sick from the rolling motion and never made an appearance at
dinner that evening. Mrs Mathias had been on many voyages previously. Her
husband, Captain Mathias was a well-known Master of the steamer Cam.
She was returning to meet her husband in Hong Kong. Only a few hours before over twenty friends and relatives had come to
farewell Mrs Mathias and witness her departure on the Catterthun. The Loring
women had arrived in Melbourne in February to visit family members. They were The wind had grown in intensity throughout the evening with
frequent rain squalls. Occasionally the land could be seen several miles off as
the cloud cleared, revealing the moonlit sky. Down below in their cabin most
passengers were now asleep. There was no such comfort for the officer on watch,
the quartermaster and the lookout stationed in the forecastle head. Port
Stephens was now well behind the vessel's wake and Lanfear could clearly see
the beam from the next prominent point along the coast. It was Sugarloaf Point,
one of the most rugged, beautiful regions along the entire N. S. W coastline.
Since the very early days, mariners had been
concerned about the two small rocky islands and a number of shoals which
existed in the vicinity of Sugarloaf Point. The two rocky outcrops were known
as Big and Little Seal Rocks. They were so called because of a small seal
colony, which used to inhabit the islands. Both were positioned almost
parallel to the seaboard, a little over several nautical miles off the coast
and separated by a smaller distance. Their height above sea level was only several
metres. In 1863, authorities agreed to build a lighthouse in the area. For a
decade, experts discussed the comparable merits and disadvantages of the light
being placed on one of the Seal Rocks or Sugarloaf Point. Seal Rocks was
'approved, but when the marine board visited the locality in April 1873, they
were unable to alight from their vessel and Sugarloaf Point was designated as
the sight for the new lighthouse
On December 1st, 1875, the light was shown for the first time.
Foundering
The Catterthun came round to her new course.
As minutes passed, the vessel's distance from shore slowly increased. Then, in
the distance, through the rise and fall of the ship's rigging, Lanfear caught
sight of a huge mass of white water breaking over what he would later testify
as the Big Seal Rock. Without consulting the captain he instantly ordered the
quartermaster to the course of N 80 E. This dramatic change of course would
take the vessel straight out to deeper water. However, as an experienced
officer who had voyaged past this part of the coast on many occasions, Lanfear
must have known and should have been aware of the even closer danger -the other
Seal Rock. Through the rain squalls, Lanfear strained his eyes for the sign of
any breaking water. Unbeknown to the second officer this new track was
tragically taking the steamer on a collision course with a small reef just off
the south east corner of the Little Seal Rock. Lanfear saw the breaking surf
all too late. At full speed the Catterthun's bottom came in contact with the
reef. Her momentum carried her over the first contact point and eight seconds
later she struck again, before steaming into deeper water. Captain Shannon came
running out of the chartroom, up to the bridge. "Good God; what have we
struck?" asked Shannon. "A reef off the Seal Rock", replied
Lanfear. In the momentary contact with the reef, Catterthun's fate had been
sealed. Down below, water was already pouring freely into her broached hull -in
a little over fifteen minutes the E & A liner would be lost. At least ten
minutes had now passed since the Catterthun's collision with the reef. Down
below in the saloon cabins, all but one of the six passengers were totally unaware of the drama unfolding up on deck. At
this stage there were six inches of water in the saloon and alleyway leading to
the passenger accommodation. In five short minutes the vessel would founder.
Under the captain's orders, the third officer made his way down to the saloon
passengers. He knocked on Mr Crane's door and told him the captain wanted
everyone on deck. Crane asked him what was the matter, but the officer passed
along the corridor without replying. Crane quickly dressed and attempted to
open the locker above his berth, to obtain his lifejacket. However, he was
unable to open it. Crane felt something was wrong but not for a moment did he
think he was in any: immediate danger. He went into the saloon and asked the
chief steward for a lifejacket, telling him he was unable to open his locker.
The steward went to Crane's cabin and returned with a vest and fitted it
securely to Crane's body. At that moment Mrs Mathias came out of her cabin and
Mrs Loring and her twenty five year old daughter appeared from their cabin. Mrs
Mathias asked Crane about a lifejacket and both entered her cabin to locate
one. The water was over a foot deep inside the cabin. Crane went down on his
knees and tried to open the door, but in the darkness he failed to find a
jacket. Crane offered her his lifebelt. At first the woman refused, but Crane
insisted he would be all right and so she accepted. As he started to fit the
device on her, the three women began to cry.
The lifeboat cut a path through the floating
debris towards the struggling survivors in the water. Over the sound of the
waves, an occasional cry could be heard by those in the boat. Dr Copeman was
the only European in the vessel at this time, the remaining eleven men being
the native crew. One by one those who had survived the sinking were dragged
into the lifeboat. Over the next half hour, several of the crew called out
repeatedly for their captain and chief officer, but to no avail. The boat was
manoeuvred around the wreck site until the survivors were sure they had done
everything possible for their shipmates. This lifeboat which had been launched
with eleven men, now had a total of twenty-six survivors on board. Included in
these were Crane, Second Officer Lanfear and Fawkes. Fawkes, being a pilot was
very familiar with this part of the coast, took command of the lifeboat and
instructed the crew to steer towards the seaboard. The sea frequently broke
over the boat and as the vessel had no baler, the binnacle was taken out of its
base and used for this purpose. The night was bitterly cold. To keep warm
almost every man took a turn at rowing. Crane later commented to the press
about a "wretched' Chinese boy, sitting next to Fawkes: "Who was
pressing close to me, as to extract some warmth from him." Within half a
mile from the beach on the south side of Charlotte Head, the quartermaster
became anxious to make a landing. A huge surf could be seen running the entire
length of the beach. Fawkes was certain the seas were too rough to land safely
and insisted they continue on to the north side of Charlotte Head. Fawkes
argued with the quartermaster about the situation and stated that their boat
would be smashed to pieces." Look here he said, "I know that point
well; you get round there and that is Cape Hawke," Persuaded by his better judgement they
resumed rowing on their northerly course. The sun had risen well out of the
horizon by this time, much to the comfort of many of the scantly clad
survivors. At around 9.00 am, after almost six hours in the lifeboat, the survivors came upon a
small sailing vessel anchored just south of Charlotte Head. As
they came upon this welcome sight the mood of the men changed from despair to
excitement. They forgot about their cold and damp clothing and with an
enthusiastic cheer, rowed a direct line for the boat, The
vessel was the Olga, a fishing vessel, with an estimated tonnage of twenty and
skippered by a Greek named Peter Luie. With him were his two companions. The
lifeboat came along side and fortunately the master spoke a little English. The
situation was explained to him and within minutes all were taken aboard. He placed
the Europeans into his cabin aft and brought out any spare.
At 1.10 pm that afternoon, the first telegram was sent from Forster to Sydney with first news of the disaster. The message was
sent to Captain Linderman of the Marine Board by Pilot Kendall and read
I
HAVE JUST TOWED IN A BOAT WITH FOUR WHITE MEN AND SIXTEEN CHINESE CREW OF THE STEAMER
CATTERTHUN WHICH STRUCK ON THE SEAL ROCKS AT TWO TWENTY FIVE AM AND SUNK AT TWO FORTY FIVE. THE NAMES OF THE EUROPEANS,
LANFEAR, SECOND OFFICER, DR COPEMAN, CAPTAIN FAWKES, MR CRANE. CANNOT GIVE ANY
INFORMATION CONCERNING THE OTHER BOATS BUT FEAR GREAT LOSS OF LIFE OF PASSENGERS AND CREW. I HAVE SENT THE TUG TO SEAL ROCKS TO SEE IF ANY ASSISTANCE CAN BE GIVEN AND TO SEARCH FOR ANY MISSING BOATS.
WHAT STEPS AM I TO TAKE TO SUPPLY THE SHIP'S CREW AS THEY HAVE LOST EVERYTHING? SOME CAME
ASHORE ALMOST NAKED. THE EUROPEANS ARE AT MY PLACE. THE CHINESE ARE AT PRESENT SHELTERED IN MY BOATSHED.
I HAVE SUPPLIED THEM WITH SOMETHING TO EAT A. H. Kendell Pilot.
Meanwhile, news of the disaster began to
sweep Sydney. The Sydney Morning Herald of August lOth, reported the feeling of the public as they desired
more information about the shipwreck." To say that a deep sense of grief
is felt by the whole community at the appalling disaster to the human life
involved in the wreck of the Catterthun, insufficiently expresses the acuteness
of the shock that yesterday was everything observable. A sympathy with the
bereaved has been aroused which for earnestness and depth has not been exceeded
in Sydney since the Wairarapa catastrophe. Perhaps in no
public place was this more noticeable than at the General Post Office. The vast
stream of people who, from the first in the morning until the last telegram was
put out, flowed along the George Street corridor was remarkable. All eyes rested on the
shipping board, Thither the anxious faces turned and returned and the people
left with dismay written as plainly in their facial expressions as if their
thoughts had been uttered. Nothing came through that gave the faintest promise
of hope. People asked each other such questions as 'Think there's any chance'? or, Any sign of another boat?' Have the search boats
returned? ' And so on, as on former occasions of
shipping disasters."
Salvage
The insurers of the 9,000 gold sovereigns
were also keen to interview the second officer, as to the probable position of
the wreck. Negotiations were already underway to send two divers to Seal Rocks
for the recovery of the gold. Of course the first task would be to find the
Catterthun and establish the depth at which she was lying. A successful salvage
would depend on the depth. Early reports of the sinking gave some encouragement
to the salvage team, with the Sydney Morning Herald reporting: "The
vessel's course after striking seems to have been inshore, something like an
attempt having been made to run her into shallow water. This is, of course, all
in favour. In any case if the Catterthun is not over 20 fathoms deep the gold
will sooner or later be recovered."
August
20th, 1896, dawned fine and clear with absolutely no current. The salvage party hoped to
finalise all operations by midday. May was still feeling unwell and it was decided it would be unsafe to
send him down. Briggs went over the side just after 10.00 am and was successful in retrieving another box from
the tank. This vas the sixth crate the team had recovered and its contents of
sovereigns numbered 100 and took the total now recovered to 7650 coins.
Although none of the boxes had been opened up on deck, the shipper's name were still decipherable on the side of the chest. That
name was then matched to the shipping list to ascertain the contents of each
box.
Also on board the Sophia Ann for the last
few days, were a number of representatives of the two insurance companies. As
the claims on the gold had now been paid out, these firms were now the owners
of the sovereigns. These men had seen for themselves the difficulties in which
the divers had been working and were well satisfied with the amount of gold recovered
from the wreck. The insurance companies' representatives as well of the rest of
the salvage party, were under the Impression that this mornings dive was to be
the last on the Catterthun. However, Briggs was determined to make another dive
in the afternoon. He told them whether he was successful or not, this was to be
his last dive. The result of this dive was the recovery of the seventh box,
containing 250 coins. Briggs believed that it would be impossible to recoup the
remaining boxes, because of the amount of woodwork and paper in the chamber and
the crates were no longer intact.
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Gleeson 51 Northcote Ave Caringbah NSW 2229
Telephone (02) 9524 8077
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