 The sailing ship Acielle at mooring in Sydney Harbour while owned by Mr. Lebbeus Hordern | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Acielle |
| Owner | Australian Iron & Steel Co |
| Builder | Tasmania, Australia |
| Completed | 1908 |
| Fate | Wrecked 11 September 1929 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Wooden ketch |
| Tonnage | 40 GRT |
| Crew | 4 |
The Acielle was a 70-foot (21 m) wooden ketch that was wrecked 15 miles (24 km) south of Smoky Cape, New South Wales on 11 September 1929.
The Acielle was launched in Tasmania, and sold to Mr Lebbeus Hordern of Sydney, who is credited with first having brought seaplanes to Australian waters. [1] Hordern used the Acielle as a parent ship for his seaplane, and named her after his survey company, ACL (Aerial Company Limited). [2] In 1921, Hordern purchased another four seaplanes, two Curtiss three-seater 'Seagull' flying boats, a ten-seater Short twin engined craft, and a Short sporting seaplane. With no expense spared, he equipped the Acielle and set out to complete the first aerial navigation of the entire Australian coastline, covering around 150 miles per day. [3]
Eventually the Acielle was sold on again, and was next used as a pleasure yacht, [4] then refitted by the Australian Iron and Steel Company for a trip to investigate iron ore deposits on the northwest coast of Australia. [5]
It was during this expedition, two days out from Sydney en route to Derby, Western Australia, on 11 September 1929, that the Acielle foundered in a strong southeasterly gale. Her captain, Smith, and the crew of four endeavored to reach the shelter of Trial Bay, New South Wales, but the vessel was overwhelmed by the violent seas, and ran ashore 15 miles (24 km) south of Smoky Cape Lighthouse. [4]
The vessel was valued at £2500 and was insured. [4]
The Kempsey Heritage Inventory states that the ship's anchor at the Heritage Hotel of Gladstone, Kempsey, is believed to have come from the Acielle. The anchor is believed to have lain under the sand but was frequently exposed by sea movement. The anchor was dragged from the sand by a member of the Jordan family who is a fisherman at Hat Head. In 1974, it was transported to Gladstone Hotel (now renamed to the Heritage Hotel) and accepted by Jim Tedd, the then publican of Gladstone Hotel. It was placed in the garden of the hotel and remains there. [5]
Hat Head is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, 461.7 kilometres (286.9 mi) via M1 and Pacific Highway/A1, northeast of Sydney. It lies within the Hastings-Macleay Important Bird Area. Within the park is the eponymous village of Hat Head, with about 320 inhabitants.
SS Yongala was a passenger steamship that was built in England in 1903 for the Adelaide Steamship Company. She sank in a cyclone off the coast of Queensland in 1911, with the loss of all 122 passengers and crew aboard.
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Smoky Cape Lighthouse is a heritage-listed active lighthouse located on Smoky Cape, a headland in Arakoon east of the town of South West Rocks, Kempsey Shire, New South Wales, Australia, and within the Hat Head National Park. It directs boats towards the entrance to the Macleay River, which is located just to the north of the lighthouse.
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The Nimbin was a steel screw steamer built in 1927 at Copenhagen, that was the first motor vessel placed into the New South Wales coastal trade. It was owned and operated by the North Coast Steam Navigation Company and was the first Australian registered merchant ship to be lost during World War II when it struck a mine laid by the German auxiliary cruiser Pinguin. The Nimbin was on its way from Coffs Harbour to its home port, Sydney, with a cargo of bundled three-ply timber and a cargo of pigs. One third of the ship was blown away and it sank in three minutes. Seven men were killed. The remaining thirteen clung to bundles of plywood. Some hours later an air force plane from RAAF Base Rathmines saw the survivors and directed the coastal ship SS Bonalbo to the scene to retrieve them.
The Hordern family is an Australian retailing dynasty.
Iserbrook was a general cargo and passenger brig built in 1853 at Hamburg (Germany) for Joh. Ces. Godeffroy & Sohn. It spent over twenty years as an immigrant and general cargo vessel, transporting passengers from Hamburg to South Africa, Australia and Chile, as well as servicing its owner's business in the Pacific. Later on, the vessel came into Australian possession and continued sailing for the Pacific trade. In 1878 it caught fire and was sunk the same year. At last, it was re-floated and used as a transport barge and hulk in Sydney until it sank again and finally was blown up.
Lady Kinnaird was a three masted barque which was built in 1877 at Dundee, Scotland by Brown & Simpson for W.B. Ritchie. She operated between the United Kingdom and the Australian colonies. She was lost after running aground in Spencer Gulf south of Cape Burr on the east coast of Eyre Peninsula in South Australia early on 21 January 1880. Her main anchor was recovered from her wreck site in 1979 and was placed on display in the nearby town of Port Neill in January 1880 as part of the commemoration of the centenary of her loss.
SS Collaroy was an iron paddle steamer which often travelled between Newcastle and Sydney. The ship was named after a sheep station near Cassilis in the Hunter Valley, Australia. It was launched in 1853 in Birkenhead, England. The ship's name is now the location of the present day suburb of Collaroy.
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1929 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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Coordinates: 31°06′15″S153°01′30″E / 31.104078°S 153.024988°E
