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The wild seas that battered the NSW coast this autumn revealed rare glimpses of our maritime past. The huge waves and shifting sands brought into view historic relics that had been buried for decades. Maritime archaeologist, Tim Smith, who was kept busy recording and researching these uncommon sightings, takes a look at what the seas exposed on our north coast. On the eve of Anzac Day 1999 huge seas crashed ashore at Stockton Beach, north of Newcastle. Over night the shifting sands uncovered the form of a timber rudder, suggesting that a significant historic shipwreck lay close by in the boiling surf. Alerted to the mysterious rudder on their beach, members of the Stockton Historical Society sat on top of it, huddled against the cold. Cautious of it being moved or disturbed by beach visitors, they led an historic vigil. The Newcastle City Council followed with a security guard to watch over the remains until the rudder was assessed and recovered for conservation.
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 Top: The copper-sheathed rudder exposed on Stockton Beach is remarkable for its well preserved condition and size. Four brass brackets or pintles were used to hang the large rudder on the ship. Photograph courtesy of Stockton Historical Society. Bottom: Possible origins of the Newcastle rudder include the Susanne Godeffroy wrecked in 1880. Lithograph courtesy of the Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW. |
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Events such as this occurred at several sites along the central-mid north coast earlier this year. They show that the NSW coastline can be a volatile place. The removal of thousands of tons of beach sands is not uncommon, providing a unique opportunity to view these in-shore historic relics before their inevitable reburial. Sometimes the window of opportunity is only a week, with the wreck not reappearing again for another thirty years. Since 1788 about 1800 ships have been lost off the NSW coast. The sites of most of these losses remain unknown. When extreme conditions such as the recent swells reveal historic remains it means a busy time for the Heritage Office's two maritime archaeologists as they seek to record, protect and identify these intriguing reminders of the past. This work is undertaken with the help of the general public, historical groups, divers and other government and non-government agencies. In Newcastle the recent exposure of the timber rudder raised many questions. What vessel did it come from? Where is the associated wreck site? How did the vessel founder? How archaeologically significant is the find? What can be done to conserve it for the future? These are commonly asked questions which arise from the Heritage Office's field inspection work. In many cases the answers only come from a long period of study, research and site inspection. There are two likely contenders for the Newcastle rudder. The first is the full-rigged ship, Berbice, lost in June 1888. Built in Scotland in 1868, the iron-framed timber vessel was 174 feet in length. While on a voyage from Melbourne to Newcastle to load coal for San Diego, it bumped on the Newcastle Oyster Bank and washed ashore. While there was no loss of life, the vessel broke apart and in time became buried.
 Wreck reporters, Leanne and Bill Legge, stand in front of the impressive remains of the coastal steamer SS Fiona, uncovered by storms near Seal Rocks. A second possible origin for the rudder is the wrecked wooden barque, Rialto. This vessel was built at New Brunswick, Canada, in 1852 and was wrecked at Stockton Beach on Boxing Day, 1870. The 113-foot vessel was on a voyage from Melbourne to Newcastle and is one of thirty vessels known to have been wrecked at Stockton Beach. This information comes from the Heritage Offices own research. Data on all of these wrecks is entered onto the National Historic Shipwrecks Database (NHSD), coordinated by the Australian Institute for Maritime Archaeology. Another buried wreck was revealed this year at Fiona Beach near Seal Rocks. This time it was the dramatic exposure of an entire iron steamship, rarely seen since its loss in 1882. It was quickly identified from the Shipwreck Database as the iron steamer, Fiona, owned by the Colonial Sugar Refining Company of Sydney. Built in Glasgow, Scotland in 1874, this vessel had an impressive 200-foot length and a gross tonnage of 288 tons. Events leading to the disaster are colourful and were not so uncommon during the 19th century. Contemporary newspapers mention a "very happy-go-lucky kind of arrangement in the navigation of the SS Fiona". Dixon, the First Mate in charge during the night, was described as having "gone to sleep [after drinking] five or six drinks from noon until 8pm". The captain was alleged to have exclaimed in desperation when he came on deck, "My good ship is ashore - that is the land, Dixon. What are you about?!" The wreck was thought to have occurred about five miles south of the Seal Rocks Light on a long flat strip of beach. Today the beach is known officially as 'Fiona Beach'. The usually deeply-buried remains were scoured out of sand during the recent storm activity, leaving the bow raised some two metres from the seabed. It might be another 20 years before the site is exposed again. The Heritage Office has been greatly assisted in the recent survey work by local researchers, such as Leanne Legge near Seal Rocks, who have helped with wreck spotting and recording. The exchange of information is crucial, helping to ensure the shared management of the sites and their long term protection and interpretation. Sites are protected from disturbance by the Commonwealth Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976, or the NSW Heritage Act 1977. The federally-based National Historic Shipwrecks Program encourages divers and community members to help research, record and protect these fragile reminders of our past maritime history. | |
Upcoming Maritime Conference
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Marion Mahony and Walter Burley Griffin lived and worked in Australia from 1914 to 1935. In the following two years they worked in India where they produced another 95 projects, mainly in Lucknow.