On this day 84 years ago

Today marks the anniversary when Air Commodore Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, accompanied by Captain P. G. Taylor (co-pilot and navigator), Mr. S. E. Nelson (secretary of the New Zealand and New Plymouth Aero Clubs), Mr. J. Stannage (wireless operator), and Mr. J. Percival,  took off in the Southern Cross from Seven Mile Beach at Gerroa. ”Smithy” his crew completed the 1400 mile trip in 14 hours and 10 minutes achieving the first commercial Trans-Tasman flight.

REF: http://www.greateasternflyin.com/docs/GHDHS_Kingsford%20Smith%20DL%20Program_PRINT%20LOCAL.pdf

REF: http://library.kiama.nsw.gov.au/index.php/southern-cross-flight

Jervis Bay January 2017

The bay truely is a magical place.

This beautiful little poem appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald in 1940.

Jervis Bay early morning in January

For the early risers amoungst the many christmas visitors to the region, Jervis Bay has turned on some spectacular mornings over the first part of January 2017.

Karaga Bell

This wonderful bell is from the Ferry Karaga it forms part of the Jervis Bay Maritime Museum collection. The Karaga started out as the Waringa before a complete rebuild  in 1913, the alterations being significant enough that she was basically a new ship. Karaga ran the last Lavender Bay to Circular Quay service for Sydney Ferries in October 1932. The route was soon taken over by Hegarty's Ferries who defended their new territory when SFL realised the mistake they'd made. Along with the Wallaroo, she was requisitioned and sold to the Royal Australian Navy in 1943. There are no records of her disposal (like the Wallaroo). ref http://www.ferriesofsydney.com/waringa.html

Seen here as the Waringa before she was rebuilt and relaunched as the Karaga. 1894 – 1913 - By Kerry & Co. Contributed by Powerhouse Museum [85/1284-304 (Tyrrell 1/220 548)] (Tyrrell Photographic Collection)

Type : Wooden steam ship Launched  : 1894 Builder : Dunn Brothers Berry's Bay, NSW Gross weight : 125 tons Dimensions : 105.70 x 21.90 x 7.90 (feet) Passenger capacity : 588

Operating on the busy Sydney Harbour presents challenges for any vessel, in September 1924 she was involved in a serious collision with the ferry Kosciusko off the Neutral Bay Wharf in front of a large crowd of waiting passengers.

Eyewitness report. ”All of a sudden ther was some tooting of the whistles, one steamer blew three short blasts and the next thing we heard was a crash and the sound of smashing timber.  The vessels had met right in front of us  - it could not have been better,  so far as the view was concerned.”   The Karaga sustained the greater damage,  her front Bulwarks were smashed and one side of the boat badly splintered.  Fortunately there were not many people on board at the time and no one was injured.

1926  -  Doing her usual 8.30 run from Neutral Bay she ran into difficulties after leaving Kurraba wharf. Her engines stopped and she drifted across the bay towards the large overseas liner Hurunui at anchor in the bay,  Fortunately the ferry Kanimbla was near by at the time,  the master of the Kanimbla hastened to render assistance putting his vessel between the Karaga and the liner before  securing the Karaga and moving her to safety.

Oil Filler

A beautiful brass oil can from the museums collection.

Shoalhaven snippets - Nowra Fire Brigade 1897.

S.S Benandra

The article below this one outling the finances of the Illawarra and South Coast Steam Navigation Company ( I.S.C.S.N.C ) mentions the S.S Benandra.  Another beautiful small steamer that worked the south coast run between Sydney and Moruya carrying passengers and cargo.  She sought refuge in Jervis Bay through stress of weather a number of times. March 25th 1924.

The Benandra was a twin screw timber vessel of 345 tons and by 1924 her days of coastal cruising were numbered. The Benandra had already survived a few recent accidents,  only a few weeks before her final voyage she became stuck on the beach while trying to negotiate the Narooma Bar,  that time she was refloated without serious damage,  just prior to that she went ashore in the Clyde River. Moruya Bar and breakwater. 2017 - The present day bar.  You can see the old pilot station perched amongst the trees on the southern headland, areas of shallow water are clearly visable,  the small swell formed waves on the shallows on entering the river mouth.. 10.30am - March 25 1924 - The Benandra completed loading at Moruya Wharf. Fully laden she set out along the river towards the rivers entrance, she had done this many times before on her way to Sydney via coastal ports.   11.20am,  she arrived at the bar on the ebb tide, as indicated by the tide signal on the flagstaff next to the signal station, the master of the Benandra Captain Richmond acknowledged the signal personally. Leaving the bay on the ebb tide wasn’t an ideal situation,  the Benandra was drawing 7ft 10inches of water,  only 6 inches less than her total loading draft. While negotiating the crossing  she grounded with her port bilge on the northern side.  Steps were at once taken to re-float the vessel,  but considerable delay was experienced. After considerable effort she was refloated by hauling on wire ropes from the land.  The Master tried to back the steamer up against the tide, but without success.  Almost immediately after,  the vessel took the ground on the southern side of the crossing, causing further delay. The master was afraid if the vessel remained aground throughout the whole of the ebb tide she would have sustained heavy damage,  and he considered the lesser danger would be to cross the bar. The vessel proceeded outwards, but touched the bottom 100 yards outside the northern breakwater.  She was struck by a large sea and this turned her broadside on,  a second wave washed over her filling her with water. The heavy seas made her shiver from stem to stern and carried away the port lifeboat and penetrated the boiler and engine rooms extinguishing the fires.  The engineer informed the master of the situation,  and the position became more serious. She quickly settled down. The master gave orders to abandon the ship, The first boat was to take away the stewardess, the cook and the passenger. Cries of distress. When the boat had been lowered the cries of someone in distress were heard in the vicinity of the engine room,  but access to that part of the vessel was impossible as the engine room was full of water.  The cries ceased, and on account of the increasing danger the search for the passenger was given up as useless. The first boat's crew were landed,  and the boat returned to the vessel and took off all the other persons remaining on board,  with the exception of the master,  he was loth to leave the ship until fully satisfied that it must be a hopeless wreck. The last person to see the passenger ( William Ward ) was the engineer, who stated that he saw him on the main deck,  and directed him to the boat deck.  From that time on the passenger was not seen again. After she was abandoned she quickly settled in the channel becoming a navigation hazard until such time she could be removed. Pigs, cheese and other cargo was soon strewn along the southern beach. The wreck was observed by the harbour pilot who informed the fishing launches in the river for help.   The historic pilot station today, it was built in 1860. Pilot station as it appeared 1917. REF: John Ross Moruya’s first pilot and harbour master. . Marine Enquiry. April 8 1924. The court found that the loss of the vessel was not bought about by any negligence on the part of the masters or officers; and it was the opinion that the master and crew displayed great courage and self - restraint in very trying circumstances,  and that it was a matter for congratulations that their lives were saved.  The court expressed regret at the loss of the life of the passenger,  who must have been in some way disabled while below,  after having been directed by the chief engineer to the upper deck.

The Moruya Bar is a particuarly difficult bar to cross,  fast flowing tides, river floods and large swells constantly change the sand bars along the river and particuarly across the river entrance.  Even experienced masters had great difficulty negotiating the bar and the river. Below is an example I found of the difficulty modern vessels have in crossing the bar and this was in relatively calm seas.

Uploaded on 23 Jun 2010 Boats attempting to cross the bar at Narooma, December 2008. The boys in the yacht were intercepted by NSW Maritime just after I finished filming. They weren't wearing lifejackets.

Meaning: Ebb Tide - The period between high tide and low tide during which water flows away from the shore. Also called falling tide.

I.S.C.S.N. Yearly Report 1914.

This small article makes interesting reading…At this time the company were operating and expanding at a fast pace….The big surprise to me was the amount of shareholders in the company.

The S.S Bodalla as mentioned in the article was about to be launched and join the company’s fleet of ships plying the south coast of NSW. Continue reading about the Bodalla and her adventurous life and ultimate distruction.

On this day 1980.

The first attempt to bring the Lady Denman Ferry back to where she was built on the banks of Currambene Creek Huskisson nearly ended in disaster.  After being towed by tugs out through Sydney Heads into the open sea, The minehunter HMAS Snipe took over the tow and headed for Huskisson.   They ran headlong into a southerly buster and HMAS Snipe, fearing the Lady Denman might sink turned back to Sydney and docked the Lady Denman at Garden Island. The Navy later said the ferry was too unseaworthy to be towed to Huskisson, and unless the ship was repaired the Navy would not consider a second attempt. During the aborted tow the Lady Denman suffered damage to her side and bow bulwark. This put the volunteers from Huskisson into a financial bind as they did not have the funds to carry out the repairs and the Lady Denmans future looked very uncertain.

This dramatic photo shows the Snipe and the Denman during the towing operations in ever increasing seas off Sydeny Harbour..

HMAS Snipe.

Many thought the chance of getting this iconic Sydney Ferry back to Huskisson was slim to none,  but withing days a $30.000 public appeal was launched to raise the necessary funds to carry out the repairs and bring the Lady home. That was 37 years ago since the appeal,  and 105 years ago since the Lady Denman Ferry was built, and today you can visit the Jervis Bay Maritime Museum and walk her decks and marvel at this beautiful example of timber ship building and admire the determination of all the volunteers who were involved in her rescue and ultimate preservation for future generations..

Shoalhaven in the 20th Century.

Here is a link to a very interesting Facebook page with some fantastic early photographs from around the Shoalhaven district…. https://www.facebook.com/shoalhaven20thcentury/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED

Local advertising from 1935.

Royal Australian Naval College–Jervis Bay.

30th December 1914.

An article appeared in newspapers celebrating the news of the imminent arrival of the first group of young naval cadets at the recently completed Royal Australian Naval College at Jervis Bay.

17th December 1917

Three years later the first group of Cadets were about to graduate from the college.. After finishing their graduation the cadets entered World War One which was raging at the time. It has to be remembered the average age of the cadets when they entered the college was 13 yrs.

REF: http://news.navy.gov.au/en/Jan2015/Fleet/1744/100-years-at-Jervis-Bay---College-seeking-descendants.htm#.WGW3FlV97Gg

19th December 1929.

The college had operated for just 15 years when the government started proceedings to close the college as the cost of training and other maintenance was deemed to high.

Amazing archival footage of Bowen Island.

Click here to see some amazing archival footage of Bowen Island from the National Film and Sound Archive.

https://video.fmel1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t42.1790-2/15773553_278309345917883_2652758920849784832_n.mp4?efg=eyJ2ZW5jb2RlX3RhZyI6InN2ZV9zZCJ9&oh=0325bdd3f42728ba45af6c07e4d4e69d&oe=58659C9D

Some things never change.

The Shoalhaven Telegraph December 1927

Huskisson Population in 1988 –1000

The Canberra Times Mon 10 Oct 1988