Shipwrecks are always fascinating but did you know that the blue metal ship the S.S Dunmore rammed and sank up to six ships in its career while moving blue metal from Kiama and Shellharbour to Sydney? Is there any ship in the world that rammed and sunk seven ships ? As I said to a young visitor to the Pilot’s Cottage Museum, if there was a ghost ship off Kiama it would be the S.S. Dunmore, whose fate is unknown (apparently sold into the south China sea and may be still chugging along)!
The S.S. Dunmore loading blue metal at the Bass Point jetty.
Is this the S.S. Dunmore loading at Kiama?
No. It is the Kiama. http://www.dhub.org/object/29783,kiama
Damn.
From Encyclopedia of Australian Shipwrecks (NEW SOUTH WALES SHIPWRECKS )
http://oceans1.customer.netspace.net.au/nsw-main.html
Dunmore. Steam ship, 277 tons. Built 1891. Lbd 130.5 x 25.6 x 10.8 ft.
1.Under Captain Neils Hanson, collided with the steamer Kelloe off Little Bay, NSW, 13 May 1902. The Kelloe sank quickly, the crew of fifteen taken on by the Dunmore. However the Dunmore was found to be taking water so rapidly she was beached in Botany Bay. Apparently both vessels were in sight of each other for some time before the collision, but no attempts were made to alter course until it was too late. [LN],[#MGV]
Anchor of the Kelloe
2.On 5 January 1909, under Captain Hanson, ran down a pinnace from HMS Encounter near Woolloomooloo Bay, Port Jackson; fifteen of the sixty-seven occupants of the pinnace lost their lives.
3.On 3 April 1914, collided with SS Kiama at the entrance to Sydney Harbour, and went on shore on Lady Jane Beach. She was later refloated and repaired.
4.On 27 September 1915, ran aground at Bradley’s head, NSW.
5.On 11 February 1918, collided with the tug Champion off Botany Bay; returned to Sydney for repairs.
I am sure it hit another ship as well; My memory suggests something to do with colliding with one of the Sudan Expedition ships leaving Sydney Harbour in 1885. Check out this great post on Rock Lang who built the S.S Dunmore!
http://www.gosford.nsw.gov.au/library/local_history/Suburbs/documents/history-of-woy-woy
Rock Davis: Of all the Brisbane Water shipbuilders, Rock Davis was the most prolific and productive of all. Rock was born at sea in July 1833. He lived on and around water all his life. Rock’s parents had both died by the time he was 13. He is believed to have been Jonathan Piper’s apprentice. Together with his brothers Ben and Thomas, Rock built ‘Star of the North’, a 35-ton ketch. Rock first built vessels at Davistown (so named for the number of Davis’s living there), and then moved to Blackwall, near Woy Woy. His shipyard was built on a part of James Webb’s original 1823 grant Mullbong Farm. The first launching at the new site was the Centurion of 1863.
An unusual feature of the Davis shipyard, which became a major employer of shipwrights and timber getters, was a huge shed, built around 1862 to enable shipwrights to work in all weathers. The ‘Big Shed’, as it was known, was a Brisbane Water landmark, surrounded by various crude smithies, timber stores, sheds etc. Later Rock built an impressive home, which still stands at Blackwall. In total, Rock Davis built 168 ships, including the two early vessels built with his brothers. A bewildering array of ferries, schooners, steamships, cutters and ketches sprang from the Davis shipyard. Local schoolchildren looked forward to the lollies and drinks and fanfare of each new launching. Ship launchings provided great entertainment, following sometimes up to two years of hard toil by shipwrights.
The ‘S.S. Dunmore‘ was the largest ship built by Rock, weighing in at 277g/171n tons.
Rock Davis died on 27th June 1904, shortly before he was to turn 71. Mourners followed the steamship ‘Alabama’ (built in 1889 by Rock) in a flotilla of small boats. Rock’s last journey across water proceeded north along Cockle Creek past Davistown, Empire Bay, and the sites of many small shipyards. His life journey ended at St. Paul’s Church of England, Kincumber. Here he was buried with many other local shipwrights and their descendants. Many members of the Davis family are buried at St. Paul’s, Kincumber, including several descendants of Rock Davis, also called Rock Davis.
The last ship built at the Davis yard at Blackwall was the steam ferry ‘Woollahra’ of 1913.
Here is the story of the Dunmore running over the naval pinnace
This was Australia’s worst naval disaster until the sinking of the Sydney in World War II, reported in the Sydney Mail
Check out Max Gleeson’s great site as well with video of underwater wrecks on the south coast of New South Wales!
Read about the Dunmore’s most serious competitor for the title of ‘wreckmaker’, the Barrabool
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