The Tuncurry was a wooden carvel screw steamer built in 1903 at Cape Hawke in the Australian state of New South Wales, that was wrecked when she sprang a leak whilst carrying explosives, cement, whiskey, jam and other general cargo between Sydney and Brisbane. She was lost off Barrenjoey Head, Broken Bay, New South Wales on 22 October 1916.
Ship description and construction
Clarification and disambiguation
A vessel with a similar name operated at much the same time and so the Tuncurry ex Tokelau should not be confused with the Tuncurry (1909). which had a long career of at least 40 years and was scuttled on 9 April 1950 off Sydney although some reports say the vessel was burnt in Kerosene Bay in June 1952.
Both vessels were commissioned by the same owner Allen Taylor & Co and built by the same builder John Wright and had the same name with the Tuncurry (1909) taking over the same run after the Tuncurry (1903) was sold off to become the Tokelau
The ship builder The builder of the Tuncurry John Wright was the founder of the town of Tuncurry and the ship building industry it became known for. In 1890 he built the small sailing vessel The Stanley and used it to carry wood to Sydney returning with general cargo. This was replaced by the Tuncurry (1903)North Coast Run: Men and Ships of the New South Wales North Coast M. Richards P94 – 95 which was jointly owned by both John Wright and Allen Taylor. He died in 1910
John Wright also built a number of other vessels used on the North Coast including the Bellinger, Our Jack and the Comboyne.
His son Ernest continued the business with the building of the Narani, Wallambra, Glenreagh, Allenwood, Nambucca 1, Nambucca 2 and the Uralba as well as many small tugs, lighters, yachts and launches with the ship building company going on to be known as E. Wright & Son
Ernest Wright the son of the builder of the Tuncurry built a house and adjacent church at approximately the time of the sale of the Tuncurry in 1909 and this family house was named Tokelau the same name as the vessel being sold was to be called. This house still stands and operates as a historic bed and breakfast
The Original Owner The original owners of the vessel was Allen Taylor & Company. This company was formed by Sir Allen Arthur Taylor (1864–1940) a self-made man timber merchant, ship-owner and politician.
He founded Allen Taylor & Co in the 1890s and moved into the field of hardwood timber supply in which the company is still active in. In the 1890s he became active in the shipping of hardwood from the north coast also though his shipping company and the later (1919) the North Coast Steam Navigation Co which purchased his shipping interests.
The vessel was equally owned by Allen Taylor and Robert Murray McCheyne Anderson with 32 of the 64 Shares in the vessel with John Wright owning the other 32 shares.
Ship description Tuncurry (1903) The vessel was a wooden single deck and the bridge ship with 2 masts and an elliptical stern it dimensions were: Length from foredeck of stem to stern post was Sydney Ship Register Length @ ¼ depth front top of weather deck at amidships to bottom of keel Main Breadth to outside plank Depth of Hold from tonnage deck to ceiling at amidships Depth from Top of beam amidships to top of keel Depth from top of deck as side amidships to bottom of keel Length of Engine Room
The vessel had a and a when first manufactured
As originally fitted out the vessel was described as:
Accommodation is also first class, having two nice ladies' cabins and a gentlemen’s cabin, all on the deck. She is fitted throughout with the electric light, and carries a steward and stewardess.http://www.nabiac.com/publications/atf/atf0902.pdf
During its transfer to the Western Pacific High Commission as the Tokelau and its associated modification into a yacht for the High Commissioner, it appears the superstructure of the vessel was increased to have a and a .
While by the refit in 1916 back to a general cargo vessel the superstructure had been changed back to little more than a Forecastle Mess Room, a Stewards Cabin, an Engineers Cabin and an Officers Cabin. The Length of Engine Room had been shortened from to
The vessel had also had a decrease in the storage volume from its original tonnage of to and a when it was resurveyed for registration.
Propulsion The Tuncurry was powered by a single British-built steel boiler producing of steam built by Fraser & Son of London England.
This steam was fed into a compound steam engine with cylinders of and bore by stroke. By the time of the re surveyed for registration the power had been derated to . The engine was manufactured in Scotland by McKie & Baxter, which had been established in Govan, Glasgow, Strathclyde in 1895 as a partnership between J A McKie and P McLeod Baxter, which after amalgamation in 1931 with Campbell & Calderwood stopped trading in 1968.The Shipbuilding industry: a guide to historical records by L. A. Ritchie Page 113
The vessel was able to achieve a speed of 9 knots.
Ship service history
Tuncurry 1903–1909 During this period the vessel was mastered by Captain O'Beirne. or Captain E. P. O'Bierne a Captain Francis P. Beirne was also employed in the North Coast Run by the North Coast Steam Navigation Company. A Francis O’Beirne Born Sydney, N.S.W. 1887 Received his Certificates of Competencies 2nd Mate on 22 July 1909, 1st Mate on 19 October 1911 and Master on 17 September 1915.
The Tuncurry (1903) was one of the first boats engaged in the Cape Hawke Trade and appears to be sold on when the Tuncurry (1909) was finished construction and took over the same run. When the Tuncurry (1903) first entered service it was welcomed as it was seen that it would improve the Tuncurry region as can be seen from the February 1904 local paper report:
It behoves all the Wallamba people to support their own boat; and it is quite evident that it is a great benefit to all to have a good steam service, as there is nothing which will enhance the value of a property in a district more than speedy and regular communication with the metropolis. In this we are singularly fortunate in having Taylor and Wright’s new boat, the “ Tuncurry”, which can do the trip in twelve hours from heads to heads. Her accommodation is also first class, having two nice ladies' cabins and a gentlemen’s cabin, all on the deck. She is fitted throughout with the electric light, and carries a steward and stewardess; and with the genial and trustworthy Captain O’Beirne, one may feel some pleasure in going for a trip to Sydney. As our bar is a very safe one, being under the lee of Cape Hawke, and as Captain O’Beirne has had such a long experience on our bar, I venture to predict that the “Tuncurry” will not miss one trip in the year. So far she has run her two trips a week as regular as clockwork. We also have a nice new drogher in connection with this service, which does the trip from Nabiac to Tuncurry in three hours, where the old one took eight; so that altogether we have the best steam service on the coast.
The Tuncurry was involved in a collision with a Tug in the early morning of 30 September 1906:
Passengers by the coasting, steamer Tuncurry were awakened early this morning whilst on a voyage from Sydney to Cape Hawke by a crash, and on looking out, were surprised to find that their vessel had been in collision with the tug Advance (1884). The Tuncurry returned to Sydney today. An ugly hole in her starboard quarter afforded ample evidence of the early morning smash.
The collision occurred shortly after 4 o'clock this morning in the vicinity of North Head. The Tuncurry, which belongs to Messrs. Allen Taylor and Co.'s line, in charge of Captain E. P. O'Bierne, left Pyrmont on Saturday night on her regular week's end trip to Cape Hawke. She carried several passengers and a general cargo. The weather, on clearing the Heads, was somewhat overcast and thick. All, however, went well until about five miles north of North Head, when the tug suddenly loomed up and the collision resulted. The tug had evidently come from Newcastle, and it is stated was "cruising" on the lookout for inward-bound sailing vessels. The two vessels met with considerable force.
The Tuncurry received the full strength of the blow on the starboard quarter. Her long counter saved her from being sent to the bottom. Had she been struck a little further forward nothing could have saved her. All the bulward planks in the vicinity were splintered, the damage extending below the covering board. The bulwark rail and stanchions were driven on board by the impact, and passengers who were berthed in the deck house in the vicinity were imprisoned by the wreckage. They were, however quickly rescued from their perilous position by Captain O'Bierne and his officers. The tug meanwhile stood by to render any necessary assistance. A hurried examination was made by Captain O'Bierne. and finding the damage well above water he signalled to the tug that no assistance was needed and immediately headed back to Sydney. The tug put into Newcastle, damaged at the bows.
It was later found at the Marine Court that:
at the time of the collision the Advance was in charge of a deck hand, McIvor, and as she was overtaking the vessel she should have kept out of the way of
The court did not find that there had "been any negligence on the part of the master of the tug in not coming on deck sooner, but thought he should have acted more wisely.
On 25 March 1908 the screw steamer was grounded on the bar at Cape Hawke and it was successfully refloated a few days later.
A description of a trip on the vessel in October 1908 suggest that it was not always a kind vessel in a rough sea:
I spent the long, weary hours "wedged" in a bunk on the upper deck of the staunch little trader which Captain O'Beirne navigates skilfully from port to port. We had run into a "snorting" southerly gale, and the Tuncurry just bumped into everything she disliked. But she fought her way to the southward, in spite of wind and sea, and landed me back home early one Monday morning with "gills" that were either light green or yellow, with a pain across the small of my back such as might have come from a hard "rope's-ending," and a feeling of emptiness in my lower hold, such as I had never known before. Still, it did not matter. Seasickness and soreness and other discomforts soon wore away
Allen Taylor & Robert Anderson as well as John Wright sold their shares in the vessel 21 November 1908 to a Merchant Thomas D/Joroker Knox?
Later in April 1910 (likely after the vessel was sold on) the master of the vessel Captain O Beirne was called to give evidence at the Marine Enquiry into the Satara sinking where as a witness knew of "the existence of an uncharted submerged rock" (Eidith Breakers) that had claimed the Satara.
Tokelau 1909–1916
The Tokelau served the Western Pacific High Commission for a number of years as a general Government steamer after having been brought by the British Government, and converted into a yacht for the Resident Commissioner of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands.
The delivery crew of the newly named S.S. Tokelau arrived back in Australia as passengers aboard the Oplan of Sandefjord from Ocean Island & Nauru on 20 May 1909 The delivery crew consisted of the Norwegian Pettersen C. and the British Baldwin S., Smith S., Wickstroke R., Irvine and Wilmott.
The vessel was used in the distribution of aid during a famine induced by drought in 1910: