![]() Wiltshire at Sydney | |
History | |
---|---|
Name | Wiltshire (1912–1922) |
Owner | Federal Steam Navigation Company |
Builder | John Brown & Company, Clydebank |
Yard number | 401 |
Launched | 19 December 1911 |
Completed | 15 February 1912 |
Identification | Official number 132675 |
Fate | Ran aground in 1922 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Passenger ship |
Tonnage |
|
Length | 526.5 ft (160.5 m) |
Beam | 61.4 ft (18.7 m) |
Depth | 33.3 ft (10.1 m) |
Installed power | 6,500 hp (4,800 kW) |
Propulsion | 2 x quadruple-expansion steam turbines, twin screw |
Speed | 14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph) |
Crew | 103 |
SS Wiltshire was a passenger ship built for the Federal Steam Navigation Company by John Brown's of Clydebank in 1912 to run between Britain, Australia and New Zealand. [1] She was wrecked when she ran aground in 1922.
SS Wiltshire was a sister ship of SS Argyllshire (1911–1936) and SS Shropshire (1911–1940), built a few months earlier. She had three main decks, four insulated holds (10,618 m3 (375,000 cu ft) refrigerated), 117 first-class berths and three- and four-berth cabins [2] for 130 first-class and 270 emigrant passengers. [1] Four boilers, [3] for two sets of inverted surface condensing, quadruple expansion engines powered her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Melbourne, between 17 March and 27 April 1912 (35 days 17½ hours), via Cape Town (for coal), at an average of 13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph). [2]
Wiltshire served Sydney for Federal, Huddart and Shire Lines, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester [4] and Wellington as a Federal and Shire Lines ship, [5] though she was also advertised as running for the parent company, New Zealand Shipping. [6] In 1913, she was fitted with two guns in an Admiralty scheme to protect food carrying ships. [7] In December 1913, a collision with a ship, whilst docking in Liverpool, required 3 months of repairs, replacing 10 plates, a propeller and a shaft. [8] From 7 September 1914 to 27 December 1917 Wiltshire was requisitioned as Australian Expeditionary Force transport A18, carrying 36 officers, 720 troops and 505 horses. [1] She was in the first convoy which assembled in King George's Sound in October 1914, taking Australian and New Zealand forces to Europe. [9] Then, until 5 September 1919, she was managed by the Liner Requisition Scheme. [1] She finished her war service by bringing troops back from Egypt to Wellington in January 1919. [10]
Wiltshire was wrecked in Rosalie Bay, Great Barrier Island, about 3 km (1.9 mi) from the southernmost point at Cape Barrier, [11] on 31 May 1922. [1] About 10,000 tons of cargo was aboard, including household goods, metals, clothing, building materials, motor cars, whisky, tobacco, [12] equipment for Pukekohe power station [13] and two NZR AB class locomotives. [14] The need to replace the lost equipment delayed the work of building the Midland Line and Waikokopu railways. [15] She was also carrying 461 bags of parcel-mail from London, of which 94 were rescued, as well as mail from Cristóbal and Liverpool. [16]
On her last voyage, she left Liverpool on 22 April 1922 and ran onto rocks on the stormy night of 31 May at Great Barrier, when close to her Auckland destination. [16] The stormy waves broke her in half on 1 June and the stern section soon sank into deeper water. [17] A distress call was radioed, but the storm forced other ships to keep their distance. A Union collier, Katoa, landed its chief officer, purser, third engineer and two seamen at Tryphena, [18] and they made their way over rough tracks to the Bay. Several attempts were made to float a line ashore from the Wiltshire. [19] One of Katoa's crew grabbed it from between the waves, a brave act, for which he was later presented with a tankard. [20] The line was then used to set up a breeches buoy and haul all 103 crew members to safety, with the help of sailors from HMS Philomel. [19] [21] [22] A large crowd welcomed the crew when they arrived at Auckland. [23] Salvage work, using divers, continued for over a year [24] and included seven of the eight propeller blades, each weighing two tons. [25] In 1955, part of the wreck was 33 metres (108 ft) below the surface. [26]
The inquiry into the wreck found that the captain made a grave error of judgement in not slowing enough, when poor visibility obscured Cuvier lighthouse and when a lead line measurement showed the ship was in shallower water than expected. He was charged the costs of the inquiry, but his certificate was returned to him. [27]
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