Marine Life Society of South Australia Inc.

Newsletter

June 2008   No. 355

“understanding, enjoying & caring for our oceans”

 

Next Meeting

The June meeting of the Marine Life Society will be held at the clubrooms of Adventure Blue on the Patawalonga Frontage at Glenelg.

 

The General Meeting will begin at 8.00pm. Everyone is welcome to attend the Committee Meeting.

 

Our guest speaker will be Simon Bryars who is a ‘Marine Ecologist - Threatened Species’ within the Department for Environment & Heritage and he will speak on his role. This is a “MUST ATTEND” meeting for anyone concerned with our threatened species both on land and in the sea.

 

CONTENTS

The Schooner Dorothy H Sterling (and other ships associated with her) (Steve Reynolds)

 

AGM Results

Committee positions

POSITION                                  NAME  

President                                              Philip Hall

Secretary                                              Neville Skinner

Treasurer                                              Phill McPeake

Committee                                           David Muirhead

Committee                                           Chris Hall

 

Non Executive Positions

Position                             Name

Auditor                                                 Phil John

Conservation Council                          Scoresby Shepherd

Editor                                                    Philip Hall

Librarian                                              Steve Reynolds

Photo Index Officer                             Steve Reynolds

Reefwatch Representative                   Steve Reynolds

SDF Representative                              Neville Skinner

                                                              Steve Reynolds

Social Officer                                        As needed

Website Managers                               Ralph Richardson

                                                              Danny Gibbins

 

The Schooner Dorothy H Sterling (and other ships associated with her)

by Steve Reynolds

 

The Dorothy H Sterling was a large six-masted American ship which was abandoned in the Garden Island Ships' Graveyard in the North Arm of the Port Adelaide River in 1932. Before being abandoned, however, much of her timber and fittings were salvaged and re-used. Her six large masts were put to good use at some of Port Adelaide’s wharves. Some of the timber from the Dorothy H Sterling was also used in the construction of a pier at Silver Lake (off Silver Lake Road?), Mylor (near Bridgewater). Some of her fittings were used on a river barge called the Moorara. This included the use of three of the Dorothy H Sterling’s six topmasts to convert the Moorara barge into a three-masted (auxiliary) schooner.

The Moorara, however, capsized and sank off the east coast of Wardang Island on 25th August 1975. Her masts and rigging were eventually salvaged though.

I have tracked down (to some degree) the whereabouts of the ship’s wheel from the Dorothy H Sterling.

 

The Dorothy H Sterling

(Source: http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/archaeology/department/publications/FUMAN/FUMAN_2007.pdf )

 

The Dorothy H Sterling was a six-masted wooden schooner built in 1920 by the Peninsula Shipbuilding Company of Portland, Oregon, USA. The 2526-ton (gross) ship was one of the largest sailing vessels ever built at that time and cost £50,000 to build. She arrived in Port Adelaide, South Australia in 1929* with a cargo of Douglas Fir timber from the USA. She became a victim of the ‘Great Depression’, however, when her owners were unable to pay both harbour dues and wages to her crew. The unpaid harbour dues resulted in her either being seized or abandoned.

*  (“Southern Passages” by Ronald Parsons 25 says that it was in March 1929, whereas sources such as “Sagas of Steam and Sail” by Neil W Cormack 23 say that it was on 2nd December that year.)

Ronald Parsons says in “Southern Passages” that, “The ship was auctioned for £50, which the Harbors Board snatched on the claim that the ship owed £500 in various dues and that, as a government instrumentality, they had priority. Consequently the men of the Dorothy H Sterling technically abandoned her by a declaration to the US Consul, and the Harbors Board recouped some of the dues owed to them by selling her for a nominal sum to a shipbreaker. After the breakers had sold all they could of her, for whatever they could get, there was talk of towing the remains of the hull to Ethelton and running it onto the mud, so that the unemployed could tear it to pieces for firewood. But the hulk of this once elegant ship could not pass under the Jervois Bridge, and in March* 1932 it was towed to the North Arm and abandoned amongst other derelicts.”

* (Other sources say that it was in June 1932.)

“Deep Structures: An Examination of Deliberate Watercraft Abandonment in Australia” by Nathan Richards 27, found at

http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/archaeology/department/publications/PDF%20Theses/Nathan%20Richards%202002.pdf, gives some interesting background into the abandonment of the Dorothy H Sterling. It also features a photo of the ship (Fig. 9.6), which is apparently Image No.1854 from the South Australian Maritime Museum at Port Adelaide.

In his book “Sagas of Steam and Sail”, Neil W Cormack 23 says that the Dorothy H Sterling was abandoned “at the Sugar Company Wharf” in the Port River. A writ was attached to her foremast, and eventually she was put up for auction, but there was no bidder. In the end she was sold by the Department (?) privately to a Mr WG Hinton for the meagre sum of £450, one condition of the sale being that the Department would purchase the six lower masts of the schooner for £200, the Department undertaking to lift the masts out of her with the 60-ton floating crane. (These (6 lower masts) were used for horizontal fenders over the Outer Harbour* Wharf.)” 23

* (Although they were previously called ‘Inner Harbour’ and ‘Outer Harbour’, they have been called ‘Inner Harbor’ and ‘Outer Harbor’ since the 1913 Harbours Act established the official spelling of all harbours in SA as ‘harbors’, including Victor Harbor.)

A black & white photo of the Dorothy H Sterling is featured on page 71 of “Sagas of Steam and Sail”, which also says that, “The six lower masts were in excess of 90’ in length and some 2’6” in diameter, and when removed by the shipwrights of the South Australian Harbours Board, it was noticed that there were lathe marks in the ends – a huge lathe to take a piece of timber that size! The ingenuity of the American tradesmen is amazing.” 23

Those lathe marks can be seen in a photo on page 72 of the book titled “Port Adelaide – Tales From A Commodious Harbour” by John Couper-Smartt. 22

The book “Sagas of Steam and Sail” went on to describe how three of the Dorothy H Sterling’s topmasts went to the schooner Moorara. It then added that, “Another condition of the sale (of the Dorothy H Sterling) was that the purchaser undertook to break the vessel up.” 23

The book also said that, “In the event, this proved difficult, and before it could be done, Mr Hinton died, the final act coming when the Harbour Master, Captain Baddams, was forced to remove the remains of the vessel to the eastern end of the North Arm.” 23

* (According to “Port Adelaide – Tales From A Commodious Harbour” (“Tales From A Commodious Harbour”), Captain WF Baddams was the Harbour Master of Port Adelaide for some 27 years, from 1925 to 1952. 22)

The photo on page 72 of “Tales From A Commodious Harbour” shows “WG Hinton cutting the masts of the Dorothy H Sterling into useable size timbers, approx 1929”. Mr Hinton is shown standing by the base of a mast. Those lathe marks at the end of the mast are clearly visible in the photo. Some writing on the side of the mast suggests a cut size of 32” X 30”. 22

(It is interesting to note from the book that a son of Mr Hinton’s (coincidentally?) went by the name of ‘G Sterling Hinton’.)

Although “Sagas of Steam and Sail” says that, “In the end (the Dorothy H Sterling) was sold by the Department privately to a Mr WG Hinton”, “Tales From A Commodious Harbour” says that Mr WG Hinton was “awarded the demolition contract” for the Dorothy H Sterling. 22, 23

(Is that the same thing, someone who is “awarded the demolition contract” privately purchases the item?)

The writing on the side of the mast in the photo in “Tales From A Commodious Harbour” indicates that WG Hinton’s address was “19 Payneham Road, St Peters”. 22

I went to visit the site of 19 Payneham Road, St Peters in 2008 to look for any sign of WG Hinton’s timber yard but the site was completely vacant. It was located alongside an old Duke of Leinster Lodge building. Connie at the Norwood History Centre put me in contact with Garry Mighall of the Kensington and Norwood Historical Society. He was soon able to tell me the history of both the site and WG Hinton.

Garry discovered that, in 1923, WG Hinton was a building demolisher. He was listed as living at 3 Thornton Street, Dulwich. In 1926, he became a timber merchant and moved to Nelson Street, Stepney. In 1930, he was listed at 19 Payneham Road, College Park (not St Peters).

Garry also told me that he believed that WG Hinton was (probably) born in 1860 and died in 1932. This agrees with the statement in “Sagas of Steam and Sail” that, “before it could be done, Mr Hinton died, the final act coming when the Harbour Master, Captain Baddams, was forced to remove the remains of the vessel to the eastern end of the North Arm (of the Port River on 6th June 1932).” 23

According to “Sagas of Steam and Sail”, the Dorothy H Sterling’s six lower masts “were used for horizontal fenders over the Outer Harbour Wharf.” 23

                                                                       

The southern end of the wharves at Outer Harbor (near the Pilot Station)

(Source: http://www.lefevreactiongroup.com/ )

 

Two vertical wooden fenders* on a corner of the wharves (by Dock 2) on the Port River (taken by Steve Reynolds 11/07)

* According to ‘The Jetties of South Australia – Past and Present” by Neville Collins, fenders are (in the case of a jetty) “upright*, generally freestanding wooden piles driven into the seabed just clear of the berth. They absorb some of the impact of berthing ships and therefore protect the jetty.” 16

* “Sagas of Steam and Sail”, however, says that the Dorothy H Sterling’s six lower masts “were used for horizontal fenders over the Outer Harbour Wharf.” 23

 

Ocean Steamers Wharf, Inner Harbor, Port Adelaide (taken by Steve Reynolds 11/07)

 

The view of Ocean Steamers Wharf from the Birkenhead side of the new rail bridge across the Port Adelaide River (taken by Steve Reynolds 2008)

 

Some of the Dorothy H Sterling’s timber was also used in the construction of the Ocean Steamers Wharf in the Inner Harbor at Port Adelaide.

 

Ocean Steamers Wharf as seen from Dock 2 (taken by Steve Reynolds 11/07)

 

The remains of the Dorothy H Sterling were towed to the eastern end of the North Arm in the Port River in 1932. They have now been covered by silt to become a ‘small island’ colonized by mangrove trees. 9

 

 

The Dorothy H. Sterling in the North Arm of the Port River

(Source: http://www.dehaa.sa.gov.au/heritage/ships_graveyards/pdfs/dh_sterling.pdf )

 

The Dorothy H Sterling is the first of the two vessels lying east of the main accumulation of wrecks (towards the Barker Inlet) at the Garden Island Ships’ Graveyard. The other vessel is the Santiago. She is the wreck furthest to the east and closest to Garden Island. The Dorothy H Sterling is the one wreck situated in the middle of the North Arm channel in the Port River. 2, 10

The 430-tonne Santiago was built in Scotland in 1856. The 50m-long vessel was scuttled near Garden Island, close to the Dorothy H Sterling, in 1945. On record as one of the world’s oldest sailing ships, according to Paul Bedwell (of the National Historic Ship Committee in the UK at the time), she is also regarded as the world’s oldest iron-hulled ship. She was built when iron was just beginning to be used.

Graduate student Karson Winslow from Flinders University organized a four-day project to record the schooner Dorothy H Sterling as a part of her thesis research. The Dorothy H Sterling Project was a great success and the crew managed to record most of the exposed hull at low tide. Jeremy Green from the W.A. Maritime Museum visited the project, as did the ABC news crew.

According to the web page at http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/sa/content/2006/s1887549.htm 13 the ABC’s “Stateline” program of 30/03/2007 featured the “Ship's Graveyard”. Jeremy Green featured in the program. Referring to the Dorothy H Sterling, Jeremy said “On 6th June 1932, the remains of this once majestic sailing vessel were towed to the eastern end of the North Arm, to be broken up by the unemployed as a source of free firewood”. Ian Henschke, the reporter, added “But now, every centimetre of her skeletal remains is being recorded by a crew of maritime archaeology students from Flinders (Flinders University's Department of Archaeology)”.

 

CONFUSION OVER HER FIRST NAME

The Dorothy H Sterling was originally called the Oregon Pine (not the Oregon Fir as I had suggested in my articles “Two Riverboats That Sank In SA’s Gulf’s” (MLSSA Newsletter, March 2005, No. 319) and “The History Of The Moorara Wreck” (Dive Log Australasia, June 2006, Issue 215). 2, 6

It was Peter Christopher’s book “South Australian Shipwrecks – A Data Base 1802-1989” which had mentioned the Oregon Fir in relation to the Dorothy H Sterling. 12

The web page found at http://mulhollandnet.com/ , however, explains: -

“The Helen B. Sterling (ex-Oregon Fir), and Dorothy H. Sterling (ex-Oregon Pine), the two six-masted schooners launched at Portland as Peninsula type wooden steamers and completed in 1920 as sailing vessels for the offshore lumber trade, both ended their careers in Australia in 1930.

“The Oregon Fir, arriving off the Northwest coast early in January, 1927, under Capt. F. G. Nelson, 81 days out from Shanghai with sails and gaffs lost in a series of heavy storms, drifted into Queen Charlotte Sound and to within 300 yards of the beach before she was towed to safety. Arriving at Astoria January 18, she was sold to Capt. E. R. Sterling, receiving her new name.

“As the Helen B. Sterling she made only one voyage under Capt. Sterling’s ownership, being sold in 1928 to the Pacific Export Lumber Co. and making two more voyages to Australia with lumber. In 1930 she was libelled for debt at Sydney. Capt. Henry Oosterhuis stayed with his ship for almost two years, finally returning to the Pacific coast almost destitute.”

The web page at http://mulhollandnet.com/ features a photo of the Oregon Fir/Helen B Sterling but the heading spells her name as ‘Stirling’ rather than ‘Sterling’.

“Scuttled and Abandoned Ships in Australian Waters”, (2nd  Edition 1998), by Ronald Parsons and Geoff Plunkett, at http://www.environment.gov.au/coasts/pollution/dumping/history/pubs/sea-dumping-scuttled.pdf, says that the Dorothy H Sterling was first named Oregon Pine. 14

The Department of Environment and Heritage’s Ships’ Graveyards of SA web page at http://www.dehaa.sa.gov.au/heritage/ships_graveyards/pdfs/dh_sterling.pdf also says that the Dorothy H Sterling was formerly the Oregon Pine. 11

According to the web page found at http://www.moanaslsc.asn.au/pages/history.htm , “The vessel’s name was changed in 1927 when it was purchased by Captain Sterling who decided to change the name (from Oregon Pine) to Dorothy H Sterling after his wife.” 24

She was one of the largest sailing vessels ever built at the time (2350 net tons, 2526 gross tons).

 

The Oregon Pine in the 1920s (later renamed the Dorothy H Sterling)

(Source: http://www.dehaa.sa.gov.au/heritage/ships_graveyards/pdfs/dh_sterling.pdf )

 

CONFUSION OVER HER BREADTH

The Ships’ Graveyards of SA web page at

 http://www.dehaa.sa.gov.au/heritage/ships_graveyards/pdfs/dh_sterling.pdf gives her dimensions as “267.0 feet (81.4 m) in length, 46.5 feet* (15.3 m) breadth and 25.2 feet (7.7m) depth.” 11

* “South Australian Shipwrecks – A Data Base 1802-1989” by Peter Christopher says that her breadth was 50’. 12

Peter Christopher’s source may be the same as “Scuttled and Abandoned Ships in Australian Waters” which gives her breadth as 49.6’. 14

PARTS USED ON THE MOORARA

The Dorothy H Sterling had six huge masts and three of her topmasts were used as lower masts on the Moorara barge for it to become a three-masted (auxiliary) schooner. Most of the Dorothy H Sterling’s deck fittings, blocks, cleats and belaying pins were also used on the Moorara. So too were her engine room skylight and the polished teak main cabin entrance

hatch. 6

There is a good photo of the Moorara as a schooner on page 162 of the book “Traders Under Sail – The cutters, ketches and schooners of South Australia” by Captain James Gillespie. JY Freeman provided the photo of the Moorara, which is shown in the Port River. 18

THE SINKING OF THE MOORARA

The Moorara capsized and sank off the east coast of Wardang Island on 25th August 1975. She was anchored about 400m from the island, as usual, when she rolled over and sank during a blow. 5

KETCH OR SCHOONER?

* The terms ‘schooner’ and ‘ketch’ seem to be interchangeable. In his book “Ketches of South Australia”, Ronald Parsons describes a ketch (according to “Young’s Nautical Dictionary) as “ a vessel with two masts . . the foremast . . the tallest and rigged like a sloop, while the aft mast carries a sail, which like the foresail is also set upon a boom and gaff”. He goes on to say that “The rig (of a ketch) has many minor variations . .”. He then describes a schooner (according to “Young’s Nautical Dictionary) as “a small craft with two masts and no tops, the mainsail and foresail being each set on a gaff and a boom”. He then describes both a fore and aft schooner and a topsail schooner before going on to say that “Many of the small craft registered in SA were described as schooners, or variations of a schooner rig, and they were frequently altered, or the description changed to that of a ketch when the ship was re-registered. There were many alterations, and not all were advised to the authorities.” The three-masted Moorara is described by Parsons as a “fore and aft rigged auxiliary motor vessel”. 20

The “Wardang Island Maritime Heritage Trail” (7) ,  “Wardang Island – Graveyard of Ships” published by the Society for Underwater Historical Research  (21) and “South Australian Shipwrecks – A Data Base 1802-1989” by Peter Christopher (12) all describe the Moorara as a schooner.

LOCATION OF THE MOORARA WRECK

The location of the Moorara wreck is shown in the middle of the map below: -

 

The “Official MARIA Map – showing the exact location of the wrecked ketch* Moorara” off of Wardang Island (taken from Evan John’s “Report on the wreck Moorara”, MARIA Journal No. 1, October 1979 19)

 

In his article titled “Report on the wreck Moorara” (MARIA Journal No. 1, October 1979) Evan John said that (in 1979) the position of the wreck was “on the side of the channel which borders the eastern edge of Wardang Island” (NOT towards the middle of the channel as claimed). Evan said that it is “approximately 1km off shore, lying in an almost N-S direction with the bow pointing South.” He gave the wreck’s bearings (in degrees grid) as Bird Point to the wreck 7º, Lighthouse to the wreck 58.5º and base of jetty to the wreck 139º.

Dick from the Mannum Boat Haven told me that he had wanted to salvage the Moorara but the Government of the time refused to give him permission until five years later. Dick told the Government that it was then too late by then. The masts and rigging were eventually salvaged from the Moorara (1980 on?). 7

WHAT BECAME OF THE MASTS?

The question is, what became of those masts (which had originally been the topmasts on the Dorothy H Sterling)? Robyn Ashworth from DEH told me that she thought that the masts salvaged from the Moorara were towed from Wardang Island to Port Adelaide by the (AK) Falie and stored in a shed of the SA Maritime Museum. She assumed that the Maritime Museum still had the masts in their collection. 

The Falie docked at Port Adelaide (taken by Steve Reynolds, late 1980s?)

 

The SA Maritime Museum’s Director, Kevin Jones, told me that, “According to a former manager of Falie Charters, in June 1992 that vessel (the Falie) carried three timber spars from the Moorara including a topmast, gaff and boom. The spars did not hold provenance back to the Dorothy H Sterling. There is a story that the masts from the Dorothy H Sterling were used as top wharf fenders for the Outer Harbor wharves. The spars from the Moorara were placed into a store formerly used by the Maritime Museum but I regret to say that we no longer hold them and I cannot tell you what happened to them.”

The QE2* at the Outer Harbor wharf (where the Dorothy H Sterling's lower masts were used as top wharf fenders) taken from the Outer Harbor fishing platform

(taken by Steve Reynolds around 2005)

 

* (The 294m-long, 67,107-tonne (gross) QE2 (Queen Elizabeth 2) has done more than 24 global cruises since her launching on 20th November 1967. She is about to become a floating hotel (and entertainment centre) in Dubai. Her farewell departure from Southampton, for her final global voyage, in November 2008 was marked by a fireworks display. She visited Outer Harbor on 2nd March 2008 for the last time.)

I put it to Kevin that it was the Dorothy H Sterling's lower masts that were used as top wharf fenders at Outer Harbor. Only the Dorothy H Sterling's  topmasts were used as lower masts on the Moorara. If some topmasts were placed on top of the Moorara's lower masts (the ex-topmasts from the Dorothy H Sterling) then a topmast from the Moorara which was carried on the Falie in June1992 would, it seems, have no connection with the Dorothy H Sterling.

Unfortunately then, we have no idea what became of the Moorara's lower masts (the ex-topmasts from the Dorothy H Sterling). These should have been towed by the Falie sometime after 1980.

We also don't know what became of the "three timber spars from the Moorara including a topmast, gaff and boom" which were apparently ‘carried’ back to Port Adelaide on the Falie in June 1992. The spars were placed into a store once used by the SA Maritime Museum but nobody knows what happened to them.

Kevin’s response was that he did not have any further information to add to his previous (initial) email about the possible fate of the masts and he could not offer more assistance.

As mentioned above, Karson Winslow from Flinders University did some thesis work on the Dorothy H Sterling in March 2007 as part of her Graduate Program in Maritime Archaeology. I have not, however, been able to obtain any details regarding this matter from her. According to the web page found at http://newground.arts.usyd.edu.au/files/NEWGROUNDprogramme.pdf “Recent fieldwork (March 2007) on the vessel has lead to the analysis and interpretation of the construction techniques as well as the history behind its use. This information will also be

provided in thesis form from Flinders University later in the year (2007).” 15

The web page found at http://newground.arts.usyd.edu.au/files/NEWGROUNDprogramme.pdf was apparently details of the programme and abstracts for “New Ground”, the Australasian Archaeology Conference which was held in Sydney from 21st – 26th September 2007. It was a combined conference of the Australian Archaeological Association, the Australasian Institute of Maritime Archaeology, the Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology, the Australian Association for Consulting Archaeologists and the Australian Association for Maritime History. 15

Karson Winslow gave a presentation about the Dorothy H Sterling at the conference. Below are details of the abstract for her presentation: -

“Amongst the Mangroves,

by Miss Karson Winslow, Flinders University of South Australia

Located in Port Adelaide, Garden Island is home for as many as 25 scuttled hulks, spanning over a century of seafaring and trade. One of these maritime heritage vessels is the American built wooden six-masted schooner, Dorothy H Sterling, which was involved in the Pacific Northwest timber trade. The vessel, constructed in Oregon in 1920, arrived in Adelaide with a shipment of Douglas Fir in 1929. Due to the economic situation of the time, applicable fees could not be paid and the vessel remained stagnant.

After numerous attempts at sale and auction, the vessel was salvaged and towed to the North Arm of the Port River in 1932 and where it still remains today. Recent fieldwork (March 2007) on the vessel has lead to the analysis and interpretation of the construction techniques as well as the history behind its use. This information will also be provided in thesis form from Flinders University later in the year.”

At http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/archaeology/department/publications/FUMAN/FUMAN_2007.pdf

I found that “Fuman 2007”, the Flinders University Maritime Archaeology Newsletter, included an article written by Karson Winslow titled “Dorothy H Sterling Site Inspection”.

According to “Deep Structures: An Examination of Deliberate Watercraft Abandonment in Australia” by Nathan Richards 27, found at

http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/archaeology/department/publications/PDF%20Theses/Nathan%20Richards%202002.pdf , “the wheel was made into a pergola (and the cabin a holiday shack)”.

(I wonder where the cabin was placed as a ‘holiday shack’ and what has become of it?)

According to the web page found at http://www.moanaslsc.asn.au/pages/history.htm , the Dorothy H Sterling’s ‘steeringwheel’ was “Once seen resting beneath a pergola at McLaren Vale, but has now been donated to Moana S.L.S.C.” 24

It was thought that the wheel was from the Nashwauk, which became a shipwreck at Moana on 13th May 1855. It was Mr. Jim Ingoldby, the club’s late Chief Patron, who had donated the wheel to the SLSC. It was sometime later that the wheel was found to have the name “Oregon Pine” on the back of it, thus tying it to the newly named Dorothy H Sterling

It was the SLSC web page that went on to say “The vessel’s name was changed in 1927 when it was purchased by Captain Sterling who decided to change the name (from Oregon Pine) to Dorothy H Sterling after his wife.” 24

This was enough to convince me that there is a connection between the Dorothy H Sterling and the E.R. Sterling, an American 6-masted barquentine which was sold to Captain ER Sterling in 1910 (or 1912). Details about the barquentine in “Sagas of Steam and Sail” are similar to those of the Dorothy H Sterling. According to the book, “in 1925 she loaded a full cargo of timber in Portland, Oregon, for Port Adelaide” and “After her timber was out, she lay (in the Port River) above Jervois Bridge, singing in the wind for a cargo*, but none was forthcoming. So to avoid excessive harbour dues, Captain (RM)Sterling had his big barquentine moved into the North Arm to lay up until the next grain harvest. And there she stayed for over twelve months. Finally she was chartered to load a full cargo of wheat for the United Kingdom for orders”.

* A description also used by Neil Cormack in relation to the Dorothy H Sterling – “She arrived in the Port . . . loaded with oregon pine. When her cargo was out she lay idle for a time, “singing in the wind” for a cargo, but none came.” This all occurred in December 1929, some 2 years 8 months after the departure of the E.R. Sterling in April 1927. Further (conflicting) details about the E.R. Sterling can be viewed at http://www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/Ships/Fourmast_ships/Lord_Wolseley(1883).html and http://sailing-ships.oktett.net/482.html .

According to the web page found at http://oceans1.customer.netspace.net.au/austrun-wrecks.html, the E.R. Sterling was originally a four-masted vessel built in 1883 as the Lord Woleseley. She was dis-masted off Cape Flattery, USA in 1903. After being repaired, she was re-rigged as a 2577-ton six-masted barquentine. Her dimensions were (then) length 308’, breadth 42’ and depth 25’. She was apparently owned by the Sterling Shipping Company* of Seattle, USA.

* (According to “Scuttled and Abandoned Ships in Australian Waters” (2nd  Edition 1998) by Ronald Parsons and Geoff Plunkett 14, found at

http://www.environment.gov.au/coasts/pollution/dumping/history/pubs/sea-dumping-scuttled.pdf, the last known owner of the Dorothy H Sterling was the Sterling S.S. Corporation, registered in Seattle.)

On 16th April 1927, the E.R. Sterling left Adelaide to sail for London with a cargo of wheat.

Captain (RM?) Sterling was in command. North of the Falkland Islands, she was partially dismasted in a storm on 4th July but she continued her voyage. She lost her foremast during a hurricane on 4th September and the chief officer was killed. Crippled, she managed to struggle into the port of St. Thomas in the West Indies on 15th October. There were no repair facilities available there so she was towed from the West Indies to London by tug. She finally arrived in London after a voyage lasting nine months, but she was so badly damaged that she was sold to the shipbreakers. (Source: http://oceans1.customer.netspace.net.au/austrun-wrecks.html)

In short, the E.R. Sterling had been broken up by 1928. Captain E.R. Sterling is said to have been from Blaine, WA.

According to Aitchison’s “Word for Word” in The Advertiser, the word ‘sterling’, which is used to describe British money, is said to be derived from one of two possible sources. One explanation is that the the word is based on ‘steorling’ which was an old English coin inscribed with a star. The other explanation is that it comes from ’easterlings’, meaning ‘men from the east’. ‘Easterlings’ were 12th century traders from north Germany noted for the purity of their coinage.

Graham Whiting, President of the Moana SLSC, told me that his ancestors had, coincidentally, arrived from Portsmouth on a ship called the Oregon in 1851. According to

http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/oregon1851.htm , Joseph and Sophia Whiting and their four children arrived at Port Adelaide, South Australia on 31st October 1851. The 521-ton (or 1000 tons?) 3-masted ship had departed from Plymouth, England on 12th July 1851 under Captain William Henry Williams. Other ships called Oregon were built in later years.

Graham Whiting’s wife Pat is the Secretary of the Moana Surf Life Saving Club. She told me that the ship’s wheel is not at the club and it is not on public display. She said that it is actually in the care of a life member of the club.

Pat’s husband Graham later told me that the ‘wheel’ had been discovered ‘holding up’ the pergola at McLaren Vale in the 1940s and was later donated to the SLSC due to confusion over its origin.

Pat Whiting put me in contact with another Pat, Pat Goudie. Brian and Pat Goudie are the ‘life members’ who hold the ship’s wheel in their care. It is apparently located at their ‘weekender’ at Middleton. They agreed to send me some photos of the wheel, including one that shows a copper plate on the hub of the wheel. The plate carries the name of the Dorothy H Sterling, plus the words “Seattle USA 1880” engraved on it, as shown in the photo below: -

A close-up photo of the copper plate on the hub of the ship’s wheel showing the words “Dorothy H Sterling Seattle USA 1880” engraved on it (Taken by Brian Goudie)

 

The engraving of the words “Seattle USA 1880” on the copper plate on the hub of the ship’s wheel is somewhat mystifying. Certainly, the web page found at http://oceans1.customer.netspace.net.au/austrun-wrecks.html, says that the E.R. Sterling was owned by the Sterling Shipping Company of Seattle, USA.

“Scuttled and Abandoned Ships in Australian Waters” 14, found at

http://www.environment.gov.au/coasts/pollution/dumping/history/pubs/sea-dumping-scuttled.pdf, says that the last known owner of the Dorothy H Sterling was the Sterling S.S.Corporation (registered in Seattle).

The year ‘1880’ seems strange under the circumstances and I haven’t been able to determine any connections between the Sterling Shipping Company and the Sterling S.S. (Steamship?) Corporation.

The web page found at

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9D04E2D91638E13ABC4D51DFB1668382609EDE&oref=slogin ,

lists ‘New Incorporations’ published in the “New York Times” in July 1919. Listed under “Delaware Charters” (?) is an item that reads: -

“Sterling Steamship Corporation; $50,000; GD Frock, SL Mackie, MC Kelly, of Wilmington”.

(The next line surprisingly reads “EF White Co.; undertaking business; $50,000; incorporators same as above”.)

The ship’s wheel from the Dorothy H Sterling may well have come from an earlier ship, one from 1880.  Another possibility is that the Dorothy Sterling that the ship is named after (the wife of Captain ER Sterling) was, say, born in 1880. The wheel is apparently now part of a private display. It seems to be besides a wooden staircase as shown in the following photo: -

 

 

The ship’s wheel from the “Dorothy H Sterling (Taken by Brian Goudie)

 

SUMMARY

Dorothy H. Sterling (formerly Oregon Pine), a six-masted wooden schooner built in 1920 by the Peninsula Shipping Company of Portland, Oregon, USA. Abandoned in the Garden Island Ships' Graveyard in the North Arm of the Port Adelaide River in 1932.

Helen B. Sterling (formerly Oregon Fir) also a six-masted schooner built in 1920 by the Peninsula Shipping Company of Portland, Oregon, USA. She was libelled for debt at Sydney in 1930.

(Both vessels were launched at Portland as Peninsula* type wooden steamers. Both were completed in 1920 as sailing vessels for the offshore lumber trade. Both ended their careers in Australia in 1930.)

E.R. Sterling (formerly Lord Woleseley), a six-masted barquentine (originally four-masted) built in 1883. She had been broken up in England by 1928.

* (After the Peninsular Shipping Company of Portland, Oregon, USA.)

 

My thanks go to Graham and Pat Whiting, and Brian and Pat Goudie for their assistance.

 

REFERENCES:

  1. “More About Wardang Island’s Shipwrecks” by Steve Reynolds (Editor), MLSSA Newsletter, January 1992, No.174. http://www.mlssa.asn.au/nletters/ 
  2. “Two Riverboats That Sank In SA’s Gulf’s” by Steve Reynolds, MLSSA Newsletter, March 2005 (No. 319). http://www.mlssa.asn.au/nletters/
  3. “More About the Ulonga and the Moorara” by Steve Reynolds, MLSSA Newsletter, April 2005 (No. 320). http://www.mlssa.asn.au/nletters/
  4. “More on the Moorara” by Scoresby Shepherd, MLSSA Newsletter, May 2005 (No. 321). http://www.mlssa.asn.au/nletters/
  5. “More On Former River Boats In SA Waters” by Steve Reynolds, MLSSA Newsletter, October 2006 (No. 337). http://www.mlssa.asn.au/nletters/
  6. “The History Of The Moorara Wreck” by Steve Reynolds, Dive Log Australasia, June 2006, Issue 215.
  7. “Wardang Island Maritime Heritage Trail” published by the State Heritage Branch of the Department of Environment and Planning, 1991. ISBN 0 7243 8629 7.
  8. Shipwrecks and sea rescue: Shipwrecks, 1931-1945 webpage at http://www.samemory.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=723.
  9. “South Australian Shipwrecks – Port Adelaide Ships’ Graveyards” pamphlet published by the Government of SA Department of Environment and Heritage, January 2002 (reprinted November 2004).
  10. Ships Graveyards – Port Adelaide Ships’ Graveyards website at http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/heritage/ships_graveyards/pt_adelaide.html.
  11. Ships’ Graveyards of SA webpage at http://www.dehaa.sa.gov.au/heritage/ships_graveyards/pdfs/dh_sterling.pdf and http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/heritage/ships_graveyards/pdfs/dh_sterling.pdf
  12. “South Australian Shipwrecks – A Data Base 1802-1989” by Peter Christopher. Published by Society for Underwater Historical Research, 1990. ISBN 0 9588006 1 8.
  13. http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/sa/content/2006/s1887549.htm Transcript of “Ship's Graveyard” broadcast on ABC’s “Stateline” program 30/03/2007, Reporter: Ian Henschke.
  14. “Scuttled and Abandoned Ships in Australian Waters”, (2nd  Edition 1998), by Ronald Parsons and Geoff Plunkett, at http://www.environment.gov.au/coasts/pollution/dumping/history/pubs/sea-dumping-scuttled.pdf.
  15. The programme and abstracts for “New Ground”, which was held in Sydney from 21st – 26th September 2007, the Australasian Archaeology Conference, a combined conference of the Australian Archaeological Association, the Australasian Institute of Maritime Archaeology, the Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology, the Australian Association for Consulting Archaeologists and the Australian Association for Maritime History. http://newground.arts.usyd.edu.au/files/NEWGROUNDprogramme.pdf .
  16. ‘The Jetties of South Australia – Past and Present” by Neville Collins, 2005. ISBN 0-9580482-2-3
  17. “A Short History of Wardang Island” and “Easter Field Trip to Wardang Island”, both by Josie Kau, MARIA Newsleter, May 1981, No.48.
  18. “Traders Under Sail – The cutters, ketches and schooners of South Australia” by Captain James Gillespie.
  19. “Report on the wreck Moorara” by Evan John, MARIA Journal No. 1, October 1979.
  20. “Ketches of South Australia” by Ronald Parsons, 1978. ISBN 0 9599387 9 6.
  21. “Wardang Island – Graveyard of Ships” published by the Society for Underwater Historical Research. ISBN 0 9597500 3 7.
  22. “Port Adelaide – Tales From A Commodious Harbour” by John Couper-Smartt, Friends of the South Australian Maritime Museum, 2003 Inc. ISBN 0-646-42058-5.
  23. “Sagas of Steam and Sail” by Neil W Cormack, published by the author, 2002. ISBN 0 9580904 0 8.
  24. Moana Surf Life Saving Club’s website at http://www.moanaslsc.asn.au/pages/history.htm .
  25. “Southern Passages - A Maritime History of South Australia” by Ronald Parsons, Wakefield Press, 1986.
  26. “Fuman 2007”, Flinders University Maritime Archaeology Newsletter, http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/archaeology/department/publications/FUMAN/FUMAN_2007.pdf
  27.  “Deep Structures: An Examination of Deliberate Watercraft Abandonment in Australia” by Nathan Richards (PhD thesis for the Department of Archaeology, School of Humanities, Flinders University of South Australia, September 2002, found at

http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/archaeology/department/publications/PDF%20Theses/Nathan%20Richards%202002.pdf .

 

 

 

 

To Home Page