Sixty-miler

Sixty-miler (60-miler) is the colloquial name for the ships that were used in the coastal coal trade of New South Wales, Australia. The 'sixty milers' delivered coal to Sydney Harbour from ports and ocean jetties to the north and south of Sydney. The name refers to the approximate distance by sea from the Hunter River to Sydney.[1][2]

A 'sixty-miler' entering Newcastle under ballast in 1923

Coastal coal-carrying trade of New South Wales
Main article: Coastal coal-carrying trade of New South Wales

The coastal coal-carrying trade of New South Wales, involved the shipping of coal to Sydney—mainly for local consumption or for bunkering steamships—from ports of the northern and southern coal fields of New South Wales, Australia. It took place in the 19th and 20th centuries. It should not be confused with the export coal trade that used larger vessels and continues today.

Coal from the northern coalfields was loaded at Hexham on the Hunter River, Carrington (The Dyke and The Basin) near Newcastle,[3] on Lake Macquarie,[4][5] and at the ocean jetty at Catherine Hill Bay. In the early years of the trade, coal was loaded at Newcastle itself on the southern bank of the Hunter River,[6] at the river port of Morpeth,[7] and at a wharf at Reid's Mistake at Swansea Heads.  

Coal from the southern coal fields, at various times, was loaded at Wollongong Harbour[8] and Port Kembla[9]  and at the ocean jetty ports: Bellambi; Coalcliff; Hicks Point at Austinmer; and Sandon Point, Bulli.[10] Port Kembla was originally an ocean jetty port but two breakwaters were added later to provide shelter.[9]

Coal Wharf - AGL Gasworks at Mortlake on the Parramatta River with a 'sixty-miler' alongside (c.1900–1927) (Broadhurst, William Henry, 1855-1927, from collection of the State Library of NSW)

At Sydney, coal wharves were located at the gasworks (Miller's Point, Mortlake, Neutral Bay, Waverton and Spring Cove at Manly).[11] Coal was unloaded at the Ball's Head Coal Loader—for steamship coal bunkering and in later years for export[12]—and at the coal depot at Blackwattle Bay. Before the Ball's Head Coal Loader opened in 1920,[12] coal was manually loaded by 'coal lumpers' to steamship bunkers, from 'sixty-milers' standing alongside.[13][14] Some industrial customers, such as CSR at Pyrmont, had their own facilities to unload coal [15]

Coal was also unloaded from time to time at the Government Pier (or 'Long Pier') at Botany on Botany Bay.[16]

'Sixty-milers' sometimes also carried crushed basalt construction aggregate—or 'blue metal'—from the port at Kiama and the ocean jetty at Bass Point (Shellharbour) on the South Coast of New South Wales. The 'blue metal' was unloaded at Blackwattle Bay in Sydney Harbour. There was also a similar type of small bulk cargo ships, usually dedicated to carrying construction aggregate, known as the 'Stone Fleet'.[10][17] Some 'Stone Fleet' ships carried coal from time to time.

The 'sixty-milers'

Although the earliest 'sixty-milers' were sailing vessels, the term was most typically applied to the small coal-fired steamers with reciprocating engines that were used during the late 19th and 20th Centuries. In the last years of the coastal coal trade, some 'sixty-milers' were diesel-powered motor vessels.[15][18]

Design

The steam-powered 'sixty-milers' were relatively small vessels typically between 200 and 1500 gross tons—most were under 1000 gross tons [19]—but some were even lighter.[20] The smallest of the 'sixty-milers'—ships like the Novelty[21] and Commonwealth[22]—were suitable to use the shallow Swansea Channel at the entrance to Lake Macquarie. In the earlier years some 'sixty-milers' were wooden ships, most were iron or steel vessels.[20] Ships larger than the 'sixty-milers' were used for interstate and export coal carrying service. Some earlier vessels were paddle-steamers but most were screw steamers. The iron and steel vessels followed the British collier design of their day, and most were British-built.[19][20]

The typical 'sixty-miler' in the first half of the 20th-Century had a high bow but lower well deck where the hatches for the two holds were located. When laden, the ships had a low freeboard and relied upon the combings, hatch covers and tarpaulins over the hatches when the sea broke over the well deck. There was some variation in the design of the bridge and superstructure arrangements; the bridge could be either amidships or at the rear; the engine and fuel-coal bunkers could be amidships or toward the rear.[23][24] Depending on the arrangement of the superstructure, the ships had either two of three masts. Some 'sixty-milers'—such as the Marjorie, Bellambi and Malachite—had multiple gaffs on each of their masts, which were used when in port to suspend the planks used in manual coal bunkering operations.[25]

For most 'sixty-milers', ballast was provided by several water tanks located low inside the hull and running for most of the length of the vessel.[20] Ships like the Undola that worked shallow ocean jetty ports, were designed with a shallow draft and self-trimming hatches, to minimise the chance of touching bottom during loading and to allow quick departures to be made.[26] Some 'sixty-milers' in the 19th Century and early 20th Century were a type known as 'auxiliary steamers' that could raise triangular or trapezoidal sails on their masts.[27] The Myola, could unfurl sails on her two tall masts and gain a knot or so of additional speed when the wind suited.[28]

The ship owners and operators

This was a complicated matter; a vessel might be owned by one entity but chartered to another. The Hexham Bank may have been described as an 'R.W. Miller' ship when in fact it was on charter from its actual owners McIlwraith McEacharn of Melbourne, which itself owned and operated other similarly named 'sixty-milers' (Mortlake Bank, Pelton Bank and Hetton Bank). R.W. Miller not only chartered ships like the Hexham Bank but also owned its own ships such as the Birchgrove Park.

The southern coalfield collieries (Coalcliff Collieries, etc.) owned their own ships but most of these were chartered to the Southern Coal Owner's Agency, which operated the ships. Some coal merchants, such as Jones Brothers' Coal, owned their own ships[29]

Ships of course were bought and sold, and changed ownership, while still carrying coal cargoes for their new owners.Sometimes, a change in ownership also resulted in a ship's name changing, such as when Corrimal was renamed Ayrfield or when South Bulli became Abersea.[29] There were many owners up to the middle of 20th-Century, sometimes just owning or operating on charter just one vessel. These complexities, together with the cross-ownership, mergers and takeovers that took place in the coal and coastal shipping companies, sometimes makes it hard to follow the owners and operators of particular vessels.

Operation and crewing

Due to the short distances between Sydney and the coal ports, and for commercial reasons, the 'sixty-milers' made frequent trips of short duration, carrying coal to Sydney and in ballast for the return trip.

The coal cargo was stored in the holds in bulk and needed to be "trimmed" to ensure that its distribution did not result in a list to one side or the other. Typically, trimming was done by the ship's crew, although depending on the sophistication of the loading arrangements coal was loaded in such a way as to minimise the need for trimming.

The ships could be loaded relatively quickly[30] and be at sea in time to complete the trip to Sydney from Newcastle in six or so hours;[2] it would take longer in bad weather. Operation of the 'sixty-milers' was typically six-days per week and around the clock.[1]

A crew of 10 to 16 was typical, depending upon the size of the ship. A crew of a 'sixty-miler' (1919) would include a master, two mates, two engineers, a donkeyman, two firemen, four to six seamen, a cook and a steward.[20]

Incidents, losses and inquiries

Over the years of the coastal coal-carrying trade, many 'sixty-milers' were wrecked, involved in collisions with other ships, or foundered. A common factor in most of the losses of 'sixty milers' was bad weather. In some losses, a factor seemed to be a haste to put to sea and get the cargo to Sydney. Another factor was the use of ocean jetties at some coal loading ports.

Coalcliff Jetty - the smallest and most exposed of the ocean jetties[26] (Tyrrell Photographic Collection, Powerhouse Museum)

Hazards of ocean jetties

The waters in which the ocean jetties were located were in nautical parlance called "open roadsteads", meaning "an area near the shore where vessels anchor with relatively little protection from the sea."[31] Ocean jetties typically were located so as to have some natural protection from the south, against the common "southerly buster". While somewhat protected from the south, all the ocean jetties were exposed to the "black nor'easter", a violent storm that can arise quickly.[20] The rocky reefs that provided protection from one direction would themselves become a hazard,when the weather was from the opposite direction.

The loading operation at an ocean jetty itself could be hazardous. In the days before moveable loaders, the ship needed to be repositioned under the fixed loading chutes, either to change hatches or to reduce the amount of trimming needed. All this, while in shallow water and close to a rocky shore or beach, made working the jetty ports hazardous.

Jetty at Catherine Hill Bay, with a small 'sixty-miler' alongside. The reef is on the right. (NSW State Archives collection) [32]

Ocean jetty ports were more hazardous for sailing vessels than for the more manoeverable steamships. Yet, in the earlier years of the coastal trade, coal was mainly shipped on sailing vessels. The perils of these operations were shown by the events of the night of 7 September 1867, when two barques—Matador and Bright Planet—were blown ashore and wrecked at Bulli.[33][34]

On 7 June 1887, the 'sixty-miler' Waratah was halfway through loading a cargo of coal at the Hicks Point Jetty at Austinmer, when struck by a "southerly buster". Accounts of what happened next vary; she either dragged her anchor and broke her mooring rope[35] or cast off quickly in an attempt to get away.[36] A mooring rope fouled the ship's propeller, leaving her drifting helplessly. She drifted onto a reef of rocks that tore a hole in her.[35] Attempts to tow her off, by the Illaroo, which had come from Bulli, failed. A heavy rope was rigged from the ship to the shore and a coal basket was used to bring the crew of fourteen and their belongings—one at a time—to safety. At low tide, the ship was high and dry on the rocks 300-yards to the north of the jetty. A total loss, she was later broken-up in situ for parts.[35]

View from Sublime Point Lookout (date unknown). Sandon Point, is the first headland, in the lower half of the photograph, with Bulli Jetty just visible. The long headland in the upper half is Bellambi Pont and its dangerous reef.

On 1 June 1903, at Catherine Hill Bay, the only ocean jetty on the northern coalfield, the 'sixty-miler' Illaroo was driven ashore in a gale.[37] Fortunately, she was refloated and survived. This was one of a number of incidents at this port, including the loss of a fully laden interstate collier, the Shamrock, earlier the same year.[38] On 16 April 1914 the 'sixty-miler' Wallarah, while departing Catherine Hill Bay during a squally "east-nor-easter", was wrecked when heavy seas forced her onto the reef 70-yards to the south of the jetty.[39] No lives were lost in these three incidents.[37][38][39]

Bellambi was a busy ocean jetty port with a dangerous reef. At least four 'sixty-milers' came to grief there. The 'sixty-milers' wrecked on the reef at Bellambi include Llewellyn (1882),[40] Adinga (1896) and Saxonia (1898).[41] In 1913, an occulting light visible for eight miles to sea was erected, on a steel tower on Bellambi Point, to guide ships away from the dangerous reef.[42] In 1949, the 'sixty-miler' Munmorah, was the last ship to be wrecked there.[43] The Court of Marine Inquiry into the loss of the Munmorah was not satisfied that the occulting light was on at the time of the stranding.[44]

Another difficulty of operations at ocean jetties was storm damage or collision damage to the jetty, which could close the port suddenly and keep it closed pending repairs.[45][46]

Loading at the ocean jetties needed to be fast to minimise the time that the 'sixty-miler' stood alongside the jetty.[30] 'Sixty-milers' loading at ocean jetties needed to remain under steam and ready to depart at short notice should there be a change in the prevailing weather.[47] 'Sixty-milers' sometimes departed without completing all the preparations that were prudent for the safety of ship and crew, There was also no inspection of any recently loaded ship at jetty ports. These were issues that would arise during the Royal Commission of 1919-1920.[20]

Collisions and near misses

In 1896, the aging iron steamer, Merksworth, collided with the Pyrmont Bridge and was beached near the gasworks wharf [48] at Millers Point. Later that same year, laden with coal from Catherine Hill Bay and bound for Millers Point, she collided with the ferry, Manly, and quickly started to sink. She was steered onto rocks west of the entrance to Mosman Bay, where her stern settled on the bottom in eight fathoms.[49] She was refloated and repaired,[50][51][52] returning to service and being involved in a third collision, with a smaller steamer, Mascotte, in Sydney, in 1897.[53] Merksworth foundered, after being abandoned off Stockton Beach in May 1898, with only three survivors.[54][55]

In 1899, the 'sixty-miler' schooner May Byrnes was involved in a collision with the schooner Whangaroa in Sydney Harbour. The tug Champion had the two vessels and another schooner, Hannah Nicholson, in tow. Preparing to make headway under sail and lengthening her towline, May Byrnes was struck by Whangaroa.[56]

In June 1901, the 'sixty-miler' Herga collided with a schooner inside Sydney Harbour.[57] The Kelloe sank, two miles off the Botany Bay heads in May 1902, after colliding with the 'Stone Fleet' coastal steamer Dunmore. The Dunmore picked up the Kelloe's crew and made it through the heads of Botany Bay, where she was only saved by being beached.[58][59]

In June 1903, the Currajong—a 'sixty miler' belonging to Bellambi Coal Co.—collided with the Milsons Point ferry Victoria near Dawes Point. Later, in 1910, the Currajong collided again; this time with the steamer Wyreema off Bradley's Head, Sydney Harbour. One crewman died, when the Currajong sank[60] in the main shipping channel.[61]

In August 1907, the J & A Brown 'sixty-miler' Alice collided with the North Coast steamer Wyoming in Johnstones Bay, Sydney Harbour.[62] The Galava collided with a schooner being towed by a tug just outside the heads of Sydney Harbour in June 1920.[63]

Two 'sixty-milers', Wallsend and Meeinderry, collided off Red Head, in May 1922. The Meeinderry made it back to Newcastle but sank just inside the breakwater.[64] In May 1925, Wallsend, while on the wrong side of the channel, collided with the steamer Coombar in Sydney Harbour.[65] In October 1925, Wallsend collided, yet again, with another sixty-miler, Bealiba, at night, off Nobbys Head at the entrance to the Hunter River; both vessels were damaged but were able to return to port.[66]

In 1924, in an incident involving two 'sixty-milers' at The Basin, Belbowrie struck Audry D. amidship.[67] Audrey D., in 1935, by then a lighter on Sydney Harbour, caught fire at her moorings in Snail Bay.[68]

In September 1926, the Stockrington headed up the Parramatta River toward Mortlake Gasworks and onto the course of a rowing race near Cabarita wharf. A catastrophe was narrowly averted when the first three scullers managed to pass just ahead of the ship's bow to complete their race.[69] The same ship collided with the wooden piers protecting the structure of the Gladesville Bridge in January 1927.[70]

In May 1932, Abersea (formerly South Bulli), bound from Newcastle to Sydney carrying coal, collided with Tyalgum off Norah Head. Both were damaged but survived the encounter.[71] A Court of Marine Inquiry found errors of judgement by officers of both ships contributed to the collision.[72]

In May 1935, the Birchgrove Park collided, with the Manly ferry Balgowlah, and was holed just above the water line.[73] The ferry Balgowlah also collided with the small Lake Macquarie 'sixty-miler' Himatangi, two years later in August 1937, during a dense fog.[74] The Munmorah collided, in December 1938, with the British cargo steamer Thistleford, which was anchored in Snail Bay.[75] In June 1948, the Mortlake Bank, while leaving Sydney for Newcastle, ran into a fishing trawler, the St. Joseph's, near Sow and Pigs reef at night.[74]

The Glebe Island Bridge was the location of two collisions involving sixty-milers. In January 1949, the tug Emu was towing Abersea past the open bridge, when the tow rope snapped. Strong winds blew the tug against a guide pylon of the bridge, where she was struck in the stern area by Abersea. Emu raced for the CSR wharf at Pyrmont, where her crew scrambled to safety and the tug sank. [76]Shortly after 9:30 a.m. on Friday, 29 September 1950, Hetton Bank collided with the bridge, damaging the bridge and disrupting road and tram traffic.[77]

Shallow water

Groundings at low speed on a sandbank or mudbank usually—but not always—had no serious consequences—other than lost time and the cost of towing or refloating the vessel—but were a hazard of working the Hunter River (Hexham in particular), Mortlake on the Parramatta River, and the other shallow water ports - Botany Pier and Lake Macquarie.

Ships made use of the tides to avoid running aground in shallow Fern Bay, when laden with coal and heading downstream from the tidal Hunter River port of Hexham to the sea.[78] The river needed dredging, particularly after major floods—like those in 1949, August 1952[79][80] and February 1955—that deposited large volumes of sediment. Even so, 'sixty-milers' occasionally ran aground on Hunter River mudbanks and needed to be towed off or refloated on a higher tide. Those running aground in the Hunter included, the Malachite in 1926,[81] the Minmi in 1930,[82] the Pelaw Main in 1931,[83] 1946,[84][85] 1948,[86] and 1953,[80] Pelton Bank in 1936[87] and 1939,[88] the Hetton Bank in 1948 during a fog [89] and in 1950,[90] and in 1952 the Ayrfield, which went aground on a mudflat near Stockton after loading at the Dyke.[91]

Four 'sixty-milers' that serviced the Mortlake gasworks ran aground in the Parramatta River. In 1906 during a fog, the Duckenfield ran aground near Abbotsford.[92] In 1930, the Pelaw Main coming from Hexham went aground near Cabarita—but for the heavy fog she was within sight of her destination—when she anchored in shallow water and the tide then went out.[93] The Hetton Bank ran aground near Cabarita in 1935[94] and again near Henley wharf in 1936[95] The Mortlake Bank ran aground at Huntley's Point—after colliding with a moored yacht and demolishing a navigation beacon—in 1938. The Mortlake Bank came to rest with its side towering over nearby waterfront houses.[96]

The Euroka on Long Reef in 1913.

Groundings in Lake Macquarie or its entrance resulted in two 'sixty milers' being lost, after the ships continued into the open sea. In 1913, the Euroka, a small iron paddle steamer, loaded coal at Belmont and then ran aground at Pelican Island—a small island in Lake Macquarie—and had to be unloaded to continue. The ship grounded again near the pilot station anchorage near Swansea but was not taking water. She continued her voyage out to sea on 19 October 1913 but started taking water. She was coping until south of Broken Bay, where her engine stopped due to the condensor being clogged with sand. She was abandoned off the northern beaches of Sydney, and she washed up on Long Reef before she could be salvaged.[97] A leak caused by striking the bank of the Swansea Channel resulted in the wooden 'sixty-miler', Commonwealth, foundering off Terrigal in August 1916.[98][99] As late as 1938, the Himitangi, ran aground on a sandbank inside the lake a quarter of a mile from the entrance, while departing for Sydney with a cargo of coal.[100]

Seven months before her demise at Bellambi, the Munmorah ran aground on a sandbank near the jetty at Catherine Hill Bay in 1948. Making use of her own winches and the high tide she was able to pull her way into deeper water.[101]

At the time that the Botany Pier (or 'Long Pier') on Botany Bay was in use, that part of the bay had sandbanks. The 'sixty-miler' Yuloo ran aground near there in 1914, after apparently missing the channel.[102] The Bealiba, coming from Catherine Hill Bay, ran aground on a shoal in 1929.[103] In 1919, the Audrey D also ran aground in Botany Bay.[104]

Bad weather and heavy seas

The prevailing weather and sea conditions were a contributing factor in numerous losses and, in some cases, the main reason for the loss of lives and ships.

In July 1877, the paddle steamer, Yarra Yarra, left Newcastle, with 500 tons of coal bound for Sydney. The weather deteriorated and she was forced to return to Newcastle early next morning. By then, the harbour was no longer safe; huge waves were breaking across the entire entrance. Near to the notorious Stockton Oyster Bank, just north of the river mouth, she appeared to lose steerage and turned broadside to the waves, after which a tremendous wave struck, carrying away the foremast. Yarra Yarra heeled over and sank by the stern. Her crew of eighteen all died.[105]

In January 1898, the brig, Minora, carrying coal from Newcastle to Sydney had foundered off Broken Bay, after unexpectedly shipping two large waves. The ship sank in less than five minutes, leaving no time to launch the boats. Nonetheless, all her crew of seven survived the sinking, by clinging to wreckage, but were not rescued by a passing steamer, Tangier, during the night,[106][107] and subsequently all but one died. Her captain, William Gallant, was the sole survivor; he was in the water for nearly 24-hours before being rescued.[108] Under the command of the same captain, the ship that replaced Minora on the Newcastle-Sydney run, the schooner May Byrnes, was caught by a sudden change of wind direction, while entering Port Jackson, and was wrecked on North Head, in February 1901; all her crew survived.[109][110]

In February 1898, another brig, Amy, carrying coal from Wollongong, was unable to beat away from the coastline during a ferocious gale. She went aground and was wrecked, on McCauleys Beach between Bulli Jetty and Thirroul. Although most of the crew appear to have survived the grounding, they could not be rescued and all those aboard her died.[111][112][113] The same gale destroyed the Bellambi Coal Co.'s jetty.[113] In 1896, Amy had survived going aground, at Cronulla, while carrying coal from Wollongong to Botany.[114]

Off-course and aground

Going off-course at sea and grounding with little or no warning caused the loss of many 'sixty-milers' over the years of the coastal coal trade. The little ships set courses close to the coast but straying too close, usually unknowingly, put the ships at risk of striking dangerous reefs or running aground where the orientation of the coast changed.

The Woniora—an 'auxiliary steamer' with three masts for sails[115]—found itself aground on Bondi Beach on the night of 8 June 1880. After jettisoning 100-tons of coal, she was towed off and was able to continue to port.[116] (She later foundered off the entrance to Botany Bay, en route from Bulli to Sydney on 28 October 1882, with only one survivor.)[115] Later in 1880, the Merksworth, outbound from Sydney, kept too close to the tip of South Head and struck the South Reef, a shelf of submerged rocks near the Hornby Light. Taking water, she was beached at Watson's Bay.[117]

In 1882, the Llewellyn, an 'auxiliary steamer' was on her way to Wollongong from Sydney but—unknowingly—steaming too close to the coast, when it struck the reef at Bellambi. Her crew and the three passengers were saved but the vessel broke up and was a total loss.[118][40]

The first 'sixty-miler' called Duckenfield was en route from Newcastle to Sydney and steaming too close to the coast, when it struck Long Reef in 1889 and sank. In 1913, the Euroka, a small iron paddle steamer carrying coal from Lake Macquarie to Sydney, having been abandoned by her crew, washed up on Long Reef and was wrecked.[97]

In perfect weather, the Hilda went onto the rocks near the southern side of the entrance to Botany Bay on 19 July 1893. Her captain had left the helm in the hands of a seaman and gone below around 1 a.m., when the ship passed Cronulla. By the time that the captain returned, the ship was close to striking the rocks at the base of a sandstone cliff and he ordered her engines to be reversed. The Hilda struck the rocks but, under reverse power, came off the rocks almost immediately. She had been damaged and sank within two minutes after her crew abandoned the ship. The crew rowed to safety in Botany Bay and then walked to Sydney.[119]

On 24 March 1905, the Bellambi Coal Company's 'sixty-miler' Marjorie ran aground—at night and at high tide—on the reef known as "The Merries", at the north end of "Cronulla beach" - actually north of Wanda Beach on Bate Bay. Fishermen at the nearby locality of Boat Harbour were surprised to see a ship heading straight for the land but their attempts to alert the ship failed. The ship was stranded but not taking water; it could not free itself by putting its engine in reverse. By low water, it was possible to walk almost all the way around the vessel on the rocks. Fortunately, the sea was exceptionally calm and the ship sat on the rocks "as if in a dock". Four gangs of 'coal lumpers' were brought, by the 'sixty-miler' Bellambi, to manually jettison the cargo to lighten the ship for refloating.[120] She was floated off but had some damage.[121]

On 24 February 1917, the wooden 'sixty-miler' Yambacoona was steaming toward Sydney within "200 to 300-feet" of Broken Head (at Terrigal, NSW)—an inquiry later found this far too close to land for safety—when the key came out of a pinion wheel in her steering gear. Her wheel could then spin freely with no effect on the helm. Although the captain put her engines into reverse, she ran hard against the rocks at the Skillion. The ship was holed and soon sank but the entire crew were able to get away in a boat.[20][122]

Royal Commission of 1919–1920

The six-month period from December 1918 to May 1919 saw the loss of three 'sixty-milers', the Tuggerah (owned by Wallarah Colliery), the Undola (owned by Coalcliff Collery), and the Myola (owned by Howard Smith Limited). There were survivors from the Tuggerah and Myola. The Undola had been lost with all hands, her fate unknown. In preceding years another three sixty-milers had been lost - the Wallarah (in 1914),[39] the Commonwealth (in 1916),[123] and the Yambacoona (in 1917).[20][122] Pressure from the Seamen's Union and others led to the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry.[124]

The Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Design, Construction, Management, Equipment, Manning, Leading, Navigation and Running of the Vessels Engaged in the Coastal Coal-carrying Trade in New South Wales and into the Cause or Causes of the Loss of the Colliers Undola, Myola and Tuggerah, sat for 29-days in 1919-1920 and called 123 witnesses. The Commissioners also inspected eighteen ships—including two under 80-tons—and the loading facilities at Catherine Hill Bay, Hexham, The Dyke (Newcastle), Bulli, Bellambi, Wollongong and Port Kembla.[20]

Evidence was given at the Royal Commission that 'sixty-milers' sometimes went to sea without properly trimming the coal first—resulting in a list to one side—and with the hatches off or not properly secured with tarpaulins. The Royal Commission found that both the Tuggerah and the Undola had departed, with all hatch covers off to allow the coal to be trimmed.[20]

In the case of the Tuggerah, at the time that the ship foundered, covers on one hatch were in place but had yet to be secured with tarpaulins and the other hatch was open to allow the coal to be trimmed. The ship had taken a sudden lurch to port—the lee side—and a large sea came over the port rail, filling the well deck. This was followed by more seas in quick succession and the ship then turned over and sank. The Royal Commission's finding on the Tuggerah was that, "The cause of the sinking was undoubtedly water entering through open hatches."[20]

The Royal Commission could not establish the cause of the loss of the Undola. It established that the ship was in seaworthy condition and stable. The nature of the flotsam washed ashore inclined the Royal Commission to the view that the ship had struck a German mine.[20] The wrecks of the three ships were not found on the sea floor until many years later. When the wreck of the Undola was found, her hull largely was intact,[125] showing that the Undola probably had foundered and not been sunk by a mine. From what remains of her wreck, it is not possible to know if the hatch covers were in place.

Main article: SS Myola

Evidence was given that the Myola, had "free water" in her ballast tanks when she had left Newcastle. The Royal Commission found that this had played a critical role by making the ship unstable by reducing her righting levers. It was unable to explain the presence of this water—the crew believed that the ballast tanks were empty—but found it possible that the filling valves were not properly screwed down.[20]

Regarding the design of the ships, the Royal Commission found that the design was suitable. Relying upon calculations of a naval architect, the Royal Commission found that both the Undola and the Myola—if properly handled—were stable. It did not have enough evidence available to find on the stability of the Tuggerah.[20]

The Royal Commission also noted that ships were only inspected prior to sailing at only three ports—Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and Wollongong—and even not always at those ports. They also identified that there was no regulation preventing a ship from leaving port pending such an inspection. The Undola had sailed from Bellambi and the Tuggerah from Bulli, both ocean jetty ports at which inspections never took place. The inspection of the Myola had not prevented her sailing from Newcastle—despite having a list when she left the wharf—nor had it identified that the ship was overloaded (due to having some free-water in her ballast tanks), which had made her unstable.[20]

The Royal Commission found that the regulations against overloading—not submerging the load-line—were not well promulgated or understood, and were being interpreted by some as not submerging the load-line on just one side of the ship. It found that there had been only two prosecutions for overloading in the previous five years.[20]

The Royal Commission made recommendations concerning the ships, the practices at ports and the legislation covering the coastal coal trade.[20]

Later losses and near misses

Despite the Royal Commission, its findings and its various recommendations, losses of 'sixty-milers' and the lives of their crew members continued up to 1956.

In 1924, the small wooden 'sixty-miler' Austral (157 tons), laden with coal, foundered off Barrenjoey Head. One life was lost. The survivors rowed for six-hours to reach the shore.[126][127]

Galava, in 1924, run aground at Cannae Point near the North Head Quarantine Station, while carrying coal bound for the nearby Manly Gasworks wharf; her crew managed to refloat her under her own power.[128]Later, in 1927, en route from Catherine Hill Bay, she foundered off Terrigal, due to water entering the holds through hull plates in the bow; seven of her crew died.[129]

In April 1927, grave fears were held for the Stockrington, until she arrived in Sydney—her crew safe but in a state of exhaustion—after having taken 40-hours to complete the trip from Newcastle during a violent gale.[130]

In 1928, the Malachite—a regular on the Sydney-Newcastle run that had been idle for about five months—was sent to Blackwattle Bay for an overhaul. While berthed alongside the Howard Smith coal wharf, the ship suddenly heeled over and sank, settling on her side.[131] She was refloated,[132] but that was the end of her sea-going days. Also in 1928, the wooden collier Excelsior on a trip from Lake Macquarie sprang a leak. About four miles north of Sydney, the leaking became too much for the bilge pump to remove. She made it into Sydney Harbour and stayed afloat just long enough to be run aground in 12-feet of water at Parsley Bay in the suburb of Vaucluse.[133]

The R.W.Miller 'sixty-miler' Annie M. Miller sank on 8 February 1929, not long after entering service. She had loaded coal at Bulli with difficulty, needing to use ballast water balancing to correct a list to port. The Annie M. Miller's captain ordered the hatches to be put on before departure but not the tarpaulins. It appears that the forward hatches were not put on. The ship left the wharf some time after 2 pm in a moderate choppy sea. Twenty minutes after departure, the list to port returned. A check showed no water in the bilges. Passing Botany Bay, the list was then so bad that two feet of water was lapping number two hatch. Despite this, Captain Pilling continued towards Sydney rather than take shelter in the bay. The list got worse until the port railing was underwater. Captain Pilling ordered lifeboats to be prepared and the crew abandoned ship. The ship sank off Bondi. Six lost their lives.[134]

On 5 March 1929, a Court of Marine Inquiry found that the Annie M. Miller left Bulli with a decided list to port, caused by improper loading and that she was overloaded by 30 tons. The Inquiry also found that the Captain failed to place the tarpaulins on the hatches. The Inquiry stated that while it could not definitely come to a conclusion as to the direct cause of the sinking, its opinion was that the improper loading and the failure to place the tarpaulins led to the ship's loss.[134]

In June 1933, only two years after the loss of the Annie M. Miller , Bulli was also the last port of call of another R.W.Miller ship, the interstate collier Christina Fraser bound for Geelong. At the Marine Court of Inquiry into her loss, evidence was given that Captain Smith had admitted himself that he had on 'dozens of occasions' taken the Christina Fraser to sea with her hatches off and while coal was still being trimmed, apparently only doing so to save time. The owners contended that the hatches wereut on when the ship left Bulli. The ship had no radio.[135] She was last seen off Gabo Island on 24 June 1933 during a gale, then—but for same wreckage washed up at Lakes Entrance—the Christina Fraser and her crew of seventeen men disappeared without trace.[136]

In 1934, Bealiba, on its way to Catherine Hill Bay from Sydney, ran onto rocks at Pelican Point to the south of the Norah Head lighthouse, in a fog. No lives were lost.[137]

In May 1936, the Abersea (formerly South Bulli), en-route from Sydney to Wollongong during a southerly gale, stranded on the Bellambi Reef, as a result of a navigation error by her second officer. She was only slightly damaged and was refloated.[138][139]

In March 1937, the small collier, Hall Caine, en route from Sydney to Lake Macquarie, sprang a leak near Broken Bay. She was taken in tow by another small ship, Idant, but she was taking on water too quickly and started to founder, causing her crew to abandon her. She sank off Terrigal. Her crew were rescued by Idant.[140]

The Minmi aground at Cape Banks and breaking up, in May 1937. (Samuel J. Hood Studio Collection, Australian National Maritime Museum)[141]

In May 1937 the large JABAS 'sixty-miler' Minmi [142]—also used in the interstate coal trade—was returning from Melbourne to Newcastle, when it ran onto the rocks of Cape Banks—the northern headland of Botany Bay—at night, in heavy weather with visibility reduced by fog. The course set when passing Port Kembla should have taken her three miles off the cape, but an incoming tide and heavy weather on the starboard side possibly caused the ship to drift gradually inshore, while maintaining the notionally correct heading. Two of the crew of 26 died; one died of a heart attack soon after the ship ran onto the rocks and the other was lost in the heavy seas during the harrowing and dangerous rescue.[143]

In 1947, the small coastal steamer Paterson had just returned from wartime duty with the Navy and on her first trip carrying coal from Catherine Hill Bay to Sydney, when she had to be beached near Norah Head.[144] She was refloated[145] and reentered service but, in 1949, while carrying general cargo, the ship foundered near Norah Head, fortunately without loss of life.[146]

In 1949, the Munmorah, when arriving to load coal at the South Bulli Jetty at Bellambi, ran aground on the reef and broke up.[43] No lives were lost.

In 1951, one of the 'Stone Fleet' ships the Kiama, was carrying coal from Newcastle to Sydney, during a gale that carried her onto the Tuggerah Reef—located offshore due east of Toowoon Bay. The crew took to lifeboats and rafts but were too close to the reef to be picked up safely by the CSR ship the Fiona that was nearby. The Kiama broke up and sank within a few minutes. Only five of the thirteen crewmen survived by making it to shore.[147]

The ship built to replace the Annie M. Miller, her sister ship the Birchgrove Park, served from 1931 until she became the last 'sixty-miler' to founder in 1956. Only four of the fourteen crew of the Birchgrove Park survived. They told of how Captain Laurence Lynch had refused to seek the shelter of Broken Bay during a storm but had pressed on, toward Sydney, before the vessel foundered off the northern beaches of Sydney. The survivors also told how the pumps were not started until there was too much free water in the hold, leaking in from a damaged part of the aged ship. The survivors also told of how the ship's radio aerial was not in place, and they had to use their signal lamp to contact the South Head Lighthouse when the ship was in distress. This absence of radio contact and the search being made too far south of the ship's last location led to a greater loss of life than otherwise might have been the case. The loss of the Birchgrove Park forms a part of the narrative of a book—"The Sixty-Miler"—written by Norma Sim, the widow of Bill Sim, one men lost with the Birchgrove Park.[148]

One of the most modern of the 'sixty-milers', the MV Stephen Brown—built in 1954—nearly came to grief, when some air-vents that had been closed off and some of the deck hatches lost their covers in the stormy seas. She began to fill, with the water gradually entering her holds and developed a list. The hull sides at deck level began to go underwater, a circumstance very similar to that in the foundering of other 'sixty-milers'. The MV Stephen Brown made it through the heads into Sydney Harbour and Captain Don Turner initially proposed to beach her at Lady Jane Beach (Lady Bay Beach) just inside South Head. That proved unnecessary. Instead the ship stood off the beach pumping out some of the water. She was then able to discharge her cargo at the CSR wharf at Pyrmont as intended. The MV Stephen Brown was probably saved only by her great stability. Her ventilators and hatches were modified to decrease the risk of a reoccurrence.[15]

Hexham Bank had survived her time carrying coal as a 'sixty-miler' but, in June 1978, while preparing to load construction aggregate ("blue metal") at Bass Point, she caught fire.[149] All her crew were rescued.[150] Her engine room was destroyed and the ship was deemed a "constructive loss" and scrapped. Her hulk later was later sunk off Sydney Heads.[151]

Decline and end of the 'sixty-milers'

The heyday of the 'sixty-milers' was from around 1880 to the 1960s. During this time Sydney was dependent upon the ships.[152] In 1919, the Royal Commission identified twenty-nine colliers engaged in the coastal coal-carrying trade.[20]

As demand for coal in Sydney fell, the coastal coal trade of New South Wales declined. 31 December 1971 was a critical turning point; the huge Mortlake gasworks ceased making town gas from coal. Petroleum replaced coal as a feedstock for town gas-making, and oil refinery gas was purchased to supplement supply, during the interval until Sydney's gas was converted to natural gas in December 1976.[153] After 1972, there was only one of the three loaders at Hexham operating; it closed in 1988,[154] and the coal unloader and depot at Blackwattle Bay also closed. The few remaining 'sixty-milers' mainly carried coal for export to the reopened Ball's Head Coal Loader, until it too closed for a second and last time in 1993, marking the end of the coal trade to Sydney.[155] The last 'sixty-miler' to unload at Ball's Head was the MV Camira ; she was also last 'sixty-miler' to be built, in 1980. MV Camira was sold in 1993 and converted to a livestock carrier.[18]

During the 1980s the development of Newcastle as a bulk coal export port resulted in a revival of coastal coal shipping, this time to Newcastle. Purpose built in 1986, a new self-discharging collier the Wallarah— the fourth collier so named and, at 5,717 gross tonnage,[156] far larger than any older 'sixty-miler'—carried coal from Catherine Hill Bay to Newcastle, where it was unloaded for export at the Port Waratah Coal Loader at Carrington. This last echo of the coastal coal-carrying trade ended on 22 July 2002.[157]

Surviving 'sixty-milers' and wrecks
MV Stephen Brown at AMC - 1987

The last of the 'sixty-milers' afloat is the MV Stephen Brown, built in 1954 in Aberdeen Scotland. She ran between Hexham or Catherine Hill Bay and Sydney, and was donated in April 1983 to the Australian Maritime College. She is now permanently moored at Beauty Point on the Tamar River in Tasmania and used as a stationary training vessel.[15][158]

The "Forest Ship", the "sixty-miler" Ayrfield, with the remains of the Mortlake Bank behind it

Now better known as the "forest ship", the rusting hulk of the 'sixty-miler' Ayrfield (built in 1911 and originally named Corrimal) rests in shallow water in Homebush Bay on the Parramatta River, which at one time was used as a breaker's yard. The Ayrfield survived service as a transport ship in WWII and was later a regular on the run between Newcastle and Blackwattle Bay, She now hosts a luxuriant growth of mangrove trees and is a minor tourist attraction. Also in Homebush Bay is the partially disassembled hulk of another 'sixty-miler' the Mortlake Bank (built 1924). Both have been there since 1972, The Mortlake Bank rests upstream of the former site of AGL's gasworks at Mortlake, to which she carried coal from Hexham for many years.[159]

The rusted boiler of the 'sixty-miler' Munmorah is still visible at low tide on the reef at Bellambi.[43][160] Part of the stern of the Minmi lies exposed on rocks on the inside of Cape Banks, at the entrance to Botany Bay, having moved since she stuck the rocks on the outside of the cape in 1937. The seabed in the small cove inside Cape Banks, Cruwee Cove, is littered with girders and plates from her wreckage.[143]

There is a memorial to the brig, Amy, erected in 1898, near where she was wrecked and her crew perished, at Thirroul.[112]

The Currajong remains, where she sank, after a collision in 1910, at the bottom of the main shipping channel of Sydney Harbour for incoming ships, just off Bradley's Head.[61] The wrecks of the 'sixty-milers' Duckenfield, Woniora, Kelloe, Hilda, Undola, Tuggerah, Myola, Annie M. Miller and Birchgrove Park lie on the sea-floor near Sydney,[161] Galava lies off Terrigal[162], and Yarra Yarra just north of the mouth of the Hunter River.[105] All continue to attract adventurous divers.

See also

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