Dundonald (ship)
Encyclopedia
The Dundonald was a steel, four-masted barque
of 2205 tons, which was launched in Belfast
in 1891. She was shipwrecked in 1907 in the New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands
. 15 of the 28 crew survived and were rescued seven months later by a scientific expedition.
, Australia
on 17 February 1907, bound for Falmouth
with a cargo of wheat
, she was forced onto rocks during a squall
and sank on 7 March on the west of Disappointment Island
, 5 miles north west of the Auckland Islands
, 180 miles south of New Zealand
.
crew and re-interred at the Hardwicke
cemetery at Port Ross
, in Erebus cove, in the Auckland Islands. His father and brother were also lost at sea in New Zealand waters.
The crew included:
s until their supply of matches dried enough to get a fire going. They kept the same fire burning for the duration of the shipwreck, burrowed into the ground for shelter. The island had limited timber and the canvas tent could not withstand the constant storms so they improvised by digging into the ground and roofing over with sods and shelter. The survivors also improvised clothes and tools from materials salvaged from the wreck or from the seals
and limited trees they found on the island.
The crew knew that there was a food depot
on Auckland Island
. They built a coracle
and oars from branches and ship's canvas to try to reach it. The first attempt in August landed three men on the main island eight kilometres away but they failed to locate a depot. The coracle was smashed on launching in the second attempt. The men built another coracle and, in October, four of the crew landed on Auckland Island. The coracle was smashed on landing. The four crew hiked their way through rough terrain to reach Port Ross where they located the food depot and a boat. The boat had no sails, so the castaways cut up their clothes for sails and ferried the remainder of the 15 men to Ross Harbour.
. On 16 November 1907, the Hinemoa arrived at Port Ross to refresh the depot and to drop off some members of the 1907 Sub-Antarctic Islands Scientific Expedition
. On arriving at the port it was noticed that the Government depot flag was flying at half mast - an indication of a shipwrecked crew. Captain Bollons launched a boat and, after landing, found the castaways.
Captain Bollons took only one of the crew off the island at that point. He asked Charles Eyre to act as cook for the expedition group intending to stay on Campbell Island for the remaining outward leg of the voyage to Bounty and Campbell Islands. The rest of the castaways were supplied with additional stores and were told the Hinemoa would call for them on the return trip.
When the Hinemoa returned, the scientists on board asked the crew to bring the remaining coracle and various other articles with them to New Zealand. The coracle was exhibited at Canterbury Museum with the funds raised for the benefit of the survivors. In addition to these funds the survivors also received money from the Shipwreck Relief Society.
Barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...
of 2205 tons, which was launched in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
in 1891. She was shipwrecked in 1907 in the New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands
New Zealand sub-antarctic islands
The five southernmost groups of the New Zealand Outlying Islands form the New Zealand Sub-Antarctic islands. These islands are collectively designated as an UNESCO World Heritage Site....
. 15 of the 28 crew survived and were rescued seven months later by a scientific expedition.
Shipwreck
After setting sail from SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
on 17 February 1907, bound for Falmouth
Falmouth, Cornwall
Falmouth is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It has a total resident population of 21,635.Falmouth is the terminus of the A39, which begins some 200 miles away in Bath, Somerset....
with a cargo of wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
, she was forced onto rocks during a squall
Squall
A squall is a sudden, sharp increase in wind speed which is usually associated with active weather, such as rain showers, thunderstorms, or heavy snow. Squalls refer to an increase in the sustained winds over a short time interval, as there may be higher gusts during a squall event...
and sank on 7 March on the west of Disappointment Island
Disappointment Island
Disappointment Island is one of seven uninhabited islands of the archipelago Auckland Islands. It is from the north-west end of Auckland Island and south of New Zealand. It is home to the White-capped Albatross. About 65,000 pairs - nearly the entire world population - nest on Disappointment...
, 5 miles north west of the Auckland Islands
Auckland Islands
The Auckland Islands are an archipelago of the New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands and include Auckland Island, Adams Island, Enderby Island, Disappointment Island, Ewing Island, Rose Island, Dundas Island and Green Island, with a combined area of...
, 180 miles south of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
Shipwrecked crew
17 members of the 28 crew managed to escape the wreck to shore. One man, Walter Low, made the shore but slipped off the cliff back into the sea and was never seen again. Another, the mate Jabez Peters, died of exposure on 25 March 1907, eighteen days after the disaster. He was buried in the sands but in November 1907, his body was exhumed by members of the HinemoaNZGSS Hinemoa
NZGSS Hinemoa was a 542 ton New Zealand Government Service Steamer designed specifically for lighthouse support and servicing, and also patrolled New Zealand's coastline and carried out castaway checks and searched for missing ships. It operated in New Zealand's territorial waters from 1876 to...
crew and re-interred at the Hardwicke
Hardwicke, New Zealand
Hardwicke was the name of an agricultural and whaling community set up at Port Ross, a natural harbour on Auckland Island in the Auckland Islands Group in the Southern Ocean south of New Zealand. Although a short-lived settlement was established, it was abandoned within three years.-History:This...
cemetery at Port Ross
Port Ross
Port Ross is a natural harbour on Auckland Island in the Auckland Islands Group, a subantarctic chain that forms part of the New Zealand Outlying Islands....
, in Erebus cove, in the Auckland Islands. His father and brother were also lost at sea in New Zealand waters.
The crew included:
- Captain J.T. Thorburn - drowned
- James Thorburn, the Captain's son - drowned
- Jabez Peters, first mate - died of exposure on the island
- Daniel McLaughlin, second mate - survived
- K. Knudsen, third mate - survived
- William Smith, steward - drowned
- Thomas Crawford, sailmaker - drowned
- Edward Lee, carpenter - drowned
- Charles Eyre of London, able bodied seaman - survived
- Arthur Iviney, ordinary seaman - survived
- John Judge of Ireland, a Santiago marine - survived
- Albert Roberts, cabinboy - survived
- Alfred Finlow (also known as Finlon) - survived
- John Gratton - survived
- Harry Walters - survived
- John Puhohe - survived
- Herriman Querfelt - survived
- Robert Ellis of Adelaide, Australia - survived
- Jack Stewart of Waikato, New Zealand - survived
- John Trotton - survived
- Michael Pul (also known as Michael Poole), a Russian Finn - survived
- Sam Watson - drowned
- Carl Anderson - drowned
- Holdersen - drowned
- Immanuel Naveati - drowned
- James Cromarty - drowned
- H. Larquer Boloom - drowned
- Walter Low - slipped off the cliff back into the sea after reaching shore on the night of the shipwreck and was never seen again
Survival
The survivors lived for seven months on Disappointment Island, a barren outcrop three miles long and two miles wide. For the first three days they ate raw mollymawkMollymawk
The mollymawks are a group of medium sized albatrosses that form the genus Thalassarche. The name has sometimes been used for the genus Phoebetria as well, but these are correctly called sooty albatrosses. They are restricted to the Southern Hemisphere, where they are the most common of the...
s until their supply of matches dried enough to get a fire going. They kept the same fire burning for the duration of the shipwreck, burrowed into the ground for shelter. The island had limited timber and the canvas tent could not withstand the constant storms so they improvised by digging into the ground and roofing over with sods and shelter. The survivors also improvised clothes and tools from materials salvaged from the wreck or from the seals
Pinniped
Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...
and limited trees they found on the island.
The crew knew that there was a food depot
Castaway depot
A castaway depot is a store or hut placed on an isolated island to provide emergency supplies and relief for castaways and victims of shipwrecks...
on Auckland Island
Auckland Island
Auckland Island is the main island of the Auckland Islands, an uninhabited archipelago in the south Pacific Ocean belonging to New Zealand. It is inscribed in the together with the other subantarctic New Zealand islands in the region as follows: 877-004 Auckland Isls, New Zealand S50.29 E165.52...
. They built a coracle
Coracle
The coracle is a small, lightweight boat of the sort traditionally used in Wales but also in parts of Western and South Western England, Ireland , and Scotland ; the word is also used of similar boats found in India, Vietnam, Iraq and Tibet...
and oars from branches and ship's canvas to try to reach it. The first attempt in August landed three men on the main island eight kilometres away but they failed to locate a depot. The coracle was smashed on launching in the second attempt. The men built another coracle and, in October, four of the crew landed on Auckland Island. The coracle was smashed on landing. The four crew hiked their way through rough terrain to reach Port Ross where they located the food depot and a boat. The boat had no sails, so the castaways cut up their clothes for sails and ferried the remainder of the 15 men to Ross Harbour.
Rescue
They were eventually rescued by a New Zealand Government steamer, the NZGSS Hinemoa captained by John BollonsJohn Bollons
John Peter Bollons, ISO, was a New Zealand marine captain, naturalist and ethnographer. For many years he captained New Zealand government steamers, including the NZGSS Hinemoa, which undertook lighthouse work and patrols through New Zealand's subantarctic islands. Bollons Island, in the...
. On 16 November 1907, the Hinemoa arrived at Port Ross to refresh the depot and to drop off some members of the 1907 Sub-Antarctic Islands Scientific Expedition
1907 Sub-Antarctic Islands Scientific Expedition
The 1907 Sub-Antarctic Islands Scientific Expedition was a New Zealand scientific expedition organised by the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury...
. On arriving at the port it was noticed that the Government depot flag was flying at half mast - an indication of a shipwrecked crew. Captain Bollons launched a boat and, after landing, found the castaways.
Captain Bollons took only one of the crew off the island at that point. He asked Charles Eyre to act as cook for the expedition group intending to stay on Campbell Island for the remaining outward leg of the voyage to Bounty and Campbell Islands. The rest of the castaways were supplied with additional stores and were told the Hinemoa would call for them on the return trip.
When the Hinemoa returned, the scientists on board asked the crew to bring the remaining coracle and various other articles with them to New Zealand. The coracle was exhibited at Canterbury Museum with the funds raised for the benefit of the survivors. In addition to these funds the survivors also received money from the Shipwreck Relief Society.
External links
Additional Sources
- The Wreck of the Dundonald by Albert Roberts. Recorded in 1976. 44"
- Last of the Windjammers, Vol. 2, by Basil Lubbock.
- The Otago Witness carried photos of the survivors on 18 December 1907.
- The Annual Dog Watch No. 16 [1959] Wreck of the Dundonald by Capt. W.E. Eglen
- The Castaways of Disappointment Island by the Rev. Herbert Escott InmanHerbert Escott InmanHerbert Escott Inman was a British author of fairy tales and boys' adventure and school stories. He also wrote an account of the shipwreck of the Dundonald off Disappointment Island in 1907.- Life :...
.