100 years since SS Waratah disappeared off the Wild Coast
SS WaratahThe Waratah 1908 - 29 July 1909
The SS Waratah, sometimes referred to as "Australia's Titanic", was a 500 foot steamer. In July 1909, the ship, en route from Durban to Cape Town, disappeared with 211 passengers and crew aboard. The disappearance of the ship remains one of the most baffling nautical mysteries of all time. To this day no trace of the ship has ever been found.
According to Dispatch archives, the 10 000 ton ship passed along the Transkei coast on July 28, 1909 after stopping off in Durban the previous day.
It was heading to London and would have stopped over in Cape Town before setting sail on the high seas. A Dispatch report from July 1971 said: “Two people had disembarked in Durban – one to find a job and the other after he dreamt that the ship would sink – and after being spotted by two other ships along the Transkei coast, the Waratah disappeared in what was to become ‘one of the most baffling nautical mysteries of all time’.”
As it sailed past the Transkei coast, between the mouths of the Bashee and Xora rivers, the ship is said to have encountered bad weather and battled to sail against high winds, a combination of tide and turbulent ocean swell.
Carrying provisions on board to last a year, the Waratah is said to have fallen victim to a freak wave, capsized and been sucked to the ocean floor with all aboard. In the 100 years since it disappeared various theories have tried to explain its demise.
Numerous attempts to salvage it and a few sightings have been reported, with none proving to be true. A world genealogy website reports initial theories suggested it remained adrift for a while and was carried away from the southern African shoreline and drifted into the Antarctic Circle where passengers and crew died of cold and starvation, the ship itself eventually being crushed to pieces in the southern ice.
“Another possibility was that the ship blew up because of an explosion due to heating of her bunker coal, bringing a quick and painful death to all on board,” the website reports.
Agreeing with the theory that the ship went down in a storm, Smit said debris wasn’t found because everything was secured tightly when the storm hit.
He said the ship was either deliberately steered away from the coast to avoid it bashing onto rocks, or it was driven away from the shore by the current, and swept past the southern African tip away from the coastline. “Since they found the Titanic, why can’t they find the Waratah,” Smit asked. - By NTANDO MAKHUBU
Source: Daily Dispatch
More info: Wikipedia
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Waratah
Do you think the Waratah hit a bad storm or had engine trouble and tried to return to Durban and lost its way?
SS Waratah
I think it unlikely that she would have tried to return to Durban. According to one of the passengers who disembarked at Durban, the ship had been very unstable and had been rolling heavily. This was probably caused by moving ballast. A watcher on the Transkei coast saw the ship hit a huge wave and then disappear. I think it likely that it capsized.
Disappearance of the s.s.Waratah
I believe the vessel broached when struck by a massive wave.On capsizing the volume of air within the hull afforded a measure of negative boyancy(similar to a submarine)and the Mocambique currents exceptional speed of plus minus 6 knots pushing against a hull of 500 feet moved the ship a further 16 to 20 miles further South before it finally settled on the seabed.In the vicinity of the Kieskamma River mouth.Hows that for a theory?
ship wrechs
A war ship was found on the wild coast while filming the sardeen run this year.what ships have sunken there ?
Waratah disapearance
I believe the Waratah was overwhelmed in a storm and turned over. I believe that she floated long enough for the currents to carry her away from her original track before going under. Remember that a vessel reported having sighting bodies in the water later, but it was never followed up on. It is my sincere hope that her remains can be located someday before it is too late. It the Titanic can be located, so, too, can the Waratah. My money is on Emlyn Brown finding her. If anybody can find her, he can.
S S WARATAH
Why can't we use the same technology that traced the remains of AirFrance Flight 447 to locate the wreckage of S.S.Waratah ?
Emlyn Brown
It's sad to say, but Mr. Brown has apparently given up the search for the Waratah. In 2004 he reportedly stated he'd no longer be seaching because he'd 'run out of places to look.' This is unfortunate, because the Waratah is truly one of the last great mysteries of the sea.
With Clive Cussler's backing through his N.U.M.A. organization they've looked in every logical place imaginable. While I like some of the theories presented here, I tend to believe that it sank in a place off of the continental shelf and into the deep abyss beyond. While it could still be found there, the efforts would have to take on a much grander scale and the area searched would take far longer and be far more expensive than would be feasible. I hope one day we find out what happened to the great ship, but I sincerely doubt that after the all of the efforts made to find her already, any new efforts would prove any more successful.
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