The collision and the sinking of the SS Keilawarra (1886), a tale of extreme cowardice

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"Shame On You Men"
The terrifying sinking of
ss Keilawarra





The ss Keilawarra in its heyday.

One of the greatest peacetime maritime tragedies in NSW waters recently came to attention with the discovery of the wreck of the ss Keilawarra. Heritage Office maritime archaeologist, Tim Smith, tells the story of the 19th century iron steamer and its surprising discovery.

Captain Buttrey of the Keilawarra who went down with his ship.

When the iron steamer Keilawarra sank on the night of 8th December 1886 it created history. The shocking loss of life rocked maritime centres around Australia. The scale of the disaster, the unnecessary waste of life and tales of cowardice raised alarm, then anger. How could a respected ship with a well-known skipper be rammed by another vessel when both were in sight? Why did over forty people perish in such tragic circumstances? Why did so few women survive?
These questions are still being answered today with the discovery of the wreck in deep water near North Solitary Island in New South Wales. After 114 years, the historic site serves as a permanent marker to those drowned and a reminder of the dangers of coastal sea travel during the 19th century.
1886 was to be a bad year for shipwrecks in New South Wales. Already the magnificent steamer Ly-ee-Moon had smashed ashore at Green Cape with 70 lives lost, the battered hull wrenched in two. Unbelievably, the steamer Corangamite ran ashore at St Georges Head, Wreck Bay, on 7th December, the day before the Keilawarra's loss. In all 26 shipwrecks were to occur by the end of that year.
The Keilawarra was a fine iron steamship of 200 feet (61 metres) and 784 tons gross. Launched in 1878 at Fife in Scotland, the vessel was ordered by the Howard Smith line.
Keilawarra departed for its regular trip to Brisbane and Queensland ports on 8th December 1886. At 8.20 that evening the calm was shattered when the Keilawarra was rammed by a southbound steamer, Helen Nicoll. Smoke from the funnels had partly obscured the view ahead, as both vessels maintained full steam. In the final moments, Captain Buttrey unwittingly ordered the Keilawarra across the Helen Nicoll's path. The impact threw many off their feet as the vessels became tangled together.
Aleck Mathews, a steerage passenger on Keilawarra, was reading the paper with an account of the loss of the steamer Corangamite the previous day. He raced on deck and saw passengers "crowding up the companion stairs - men in their shirts and after them women and children, some partly dressed and others almost uncovered".
Others recalled the initial moments, "terrible shouts and cries were heard proceeding from the passengers and crew and great confusion prevailed at the time". The Keilawarra was to last just another seven minutes.
Looking at the terrible damage, several jumped from the Helen Nicoll to the apparent safety of the other ship. Of the eleven who made the fateful decision to cross over, four were to drown on the Keilawarra.
A passenger, Reverend Gray, was one of those who made the audacious leap, immediately realising his error. Stripping to his singlet, he tried to assist the Keilawarra's crew in getting boats out. He then ran frantically to try and find some lifebuoys for the women, but they were all taken. "I saw a lot of men jump overboard with lifebuoys". Seeing all hope gone, he also jumped and swam as far as he could from the stricken vessel.
On the Keilawarra Aleck Mathews, having put down his newspaper, rushed on deck and ran for the first lifeboat. He noted "a panic seized all and they bustled and crowded into her. I heard the captain cry out "Shame on you men! Have you no thought for the women?".
Washed overboard, he scrambled back on deck and was greeted with a scene that would never leave him.
"Women rushed at me and clung to me, and prayed me in God's name to save them. Little children, some quite naked were running shrieking with fear about the deck, quite demented, and some were clinging to their mothers so tightly that they could not be torn away".

Those in the water, including the Reverend Gray and Aleck Mathews, saw the ship stand straight up on her end and then plunge right down into the sea, with all the remaining passengers. Mathews recalled that "the last shriek from the vessel as she went head first into the water made my blood run cold". Another Keilawarra survivor stated that the deathlike calm and quiet that prevailed at this time was one of the most dreadful experiences he had ever known. Planks, merchandise and debris were strewed about the surface of the dark sea.
There were many tragic stories, one entire family of eight perished with the vessel. The only adult female to survive frantically tried to hold her injured husband out of the water, until he died in her arms. Twelve year-old Alice Cornwall, the only child to survive, had been recovering from a major eye operation. She lost her mother in the panic and was found clinging helplessly to a bag of chaff. Captain Buttrey was last seen standing at the bridge and purposely went down with his ship. He had earlier refused the offer of a lifebelt, passing it to a female passenger.
In all, over 40 people perished in the disaster. The exact death toll is difficult to establish today. But it included most of the woman and children. In contrast, many of Keilawarra's crew survived, including all of the officers and engineers. Stories of cowardliness and panic were soon to circulate.
The site was located on 18 September by a dive team led by shipwreck enthusiast, John Riley. Using mixed gas equipment, they completed exploratory dives at the shipwreck located in 75 metres of water. Today the historic shipwreck serves as a memorial to those who tragically drowned in 1886. It is an important discovery and provides an end to one of New South Wales' greatest peacetime maritime tragedies.
The archaeological site is protected by the provisions of the Commonwealth Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976. The Heritage Office is working closely with the dive team, local dive shops, commercial fishermen and the Solitary Islands Marine Park to manage the fragile site for the future. Divers and commercial fishermen are urged to respect the historic shipwreck remains and not to disturb the site in any way. Research is continuing both in Australia and overseas, to gain a better understanding of the vessel and its important place in the maritime history of New South Wales.

Contemporary painting of the Helen Nicoll - Keilawarra collision.

Source: http://www.heritage.nsw.gov.au/herit...um00/9_art.htm

Now investigations into the wreck

The headstone where two victims of the shipwreck are buried at Emerald Beach.

AUTHORITIES are investigating the ransacking of a safe on board the SS Keilawarra shipwreck – revealed exclusively in Saturday’s Advocate – waiting on fresh photographs to uncover more evidence.
The NSW Department of Planning’s Maritime Heritage Branch is heading enquiries into the theft from the 123-year-old wreck, off North Solitary Island.
Expert divers have used underwater oxy-tools to cut open the safe, sometime over the past three years.
“The investigation into the damage to the Keilawarra, really sets a precedent here in NSW,” State Maritime archaeologist Tim Smith said.
“Someone has broken Commonwealth law by tampering with this significant wreck and we can only do our best to find out who.”
If substantial leads develop, evidence would be handed over to the Australian Federal Police.
Coffs Harbour underwater photographer Mark Spencer, who made the discovery, plans to revisit the dive site when conditions allow.
His photos will be assessed by leading corrosion scientist Dr Ian McLeod, of the Western Australian Maritime Museum.
“We are not sure about the level of disturbance to the wreck,” he said.



Source: http://www.coffscoastadvocate.com.au...wreck-robbery/

Just an adult female survived

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now a very recent article

Thieves plunder shipwreck safe

A starboard perspective of a safe from the Keilawarra wreck located at a depth of 72m off North Solitary Island near Coffs Harbour

THIEVES have looted the 123-year-old shipwreck, the SS Keilawarra, off North Solitary Island near Coffs Harbour – the scene of NSW’s worst peace-time maritime disaster.
In a modern-day act of piracy, one of the safes aboard the heritage-listed wreck has been cut open and its contents stolen.
Commercial shipwreck salvagers are believed responsible for the crime, given the difficulty of using underwater welding and cutting tools at a depth of 75 metres.
Experienced local divers who discovered the heist have notified authorities, but it’s still unclear exactly how and when the safe was cracked.
“Usually if treasure or anything of precious value is found on a shipwreck and illegally taken there’s scuttlebutt that passes around diving circles – but up until now we haven’t heard any rumours,” Coffs Harbour diver Mark Spencer said.
Leading maritime archaeologist, NSW Heritage Branch deputy director, Tim Smith, said the Government was waiting on further evidence from the site.
“This is significant. Of the 1800 shipwrecks in NSW, only 10 per cent have been discovered and this was the only wreck with a safe onboard,” Mr Smith said.
The wreck was officially confirmed as the Keilawarra by a dive team led by John Riley and Kevin Denlay on September 17, 2000.
A local professional fisherman Darcey Wright helped to pinpoint its resting place, having long suspected one of his favourite fishing spots was a shipwreck.
Chris Connell, from Mullaway Dive Quest, who was part of the successful expedition, says a lot of mystery surrounds the theft.
“It’s a real disappointment, we had hoped the safe was relatively intact when we first reached it,” he said.
Based on the damage shown in photos, corrosion scientist from the Western Australian Maritime Museum, Dr Ian McLeod, believes the safe was raided about three years ago.
Stan Young, of the Wooli Dive Centre, who knows the site well, says whoever looted the wreck sure knew what they were doing.
“Only a very select group of divers using mixed gases in their tanks have been able to reach the wreck,” Stan said.
“It’s a terrible shame really. Forty-odd people lost their lives aboard that ship and it would have been great for the public to know what was inside the safe – now we’ll never know what was in it,” he said.
For more than a century the shipwreck lay undiscovered, near North Solitary Island.
On December 8, 1886, the 784-tonne iron steam ship plunged to the sea floor after colliding with the smaller steamer, the Helen Nicoll.
The 200-foot vessel sank within seven minutes, taking with it the lives of 48 passengers. Only a handful of people survived that night, after they were pulled from the ocean by the crew of the other badly damaged vessel. Just two bodies were later located ashore and were buried on Emerald Beach’s Look At Me Now Headland.
Under Federal and State laws, divers caught tampering with shipwrecks face fines of between $100,000 and $1 million.

HISTORY OF THE SS KEILAWARRA

The 784-tonne iron steam ship sank on December 8, 1886 at about 8.30pm.
The Keilawarra was travelling north from Sydney to Queensland, carrying passengers, food and alcohol supplies when it collided with the steamer, Helen Nicoll.
Special cargo onboard included ship anchors, cattle and two Melbourne Cup racehorses.
The 200-foot steamer sank within seven minutes – 48 passengers from both ships drowned.
Passengers on the smaller Helen Nicoll jumped ship onto the Keilawarra thinking their ship was sinking. In the aftermath just two of the ships’ lifeboats were found ashore, along with two bodies, later buried at Emerald Beach. In 2000, the wreck was rediscovered in 75 metres of water, near North Solitary Island. The safe is thought to have been raided by commercial ship salvagers sometime over the past three years.




Source:
http://www.dailyexaminer.com.au/stor...hipwreck-safe/

[Kylan271]

Oh didn't know this,thanks. Hard to keep track of your own history,my city away from Sydney. many shipwrecks here,melbourne also.