The Sinking of HMAS Voyager: On the night of 10 February 1964, the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne was engaged in night flying exercises off the New South Wales coast. HMAS Voyager was acting in the role of 'plane guard' involving the rescue, if necessary, of aircrew personnel from the sea. At approximately 2056, some twenty miles southeast of Jervis Bay, she collided with HMAS Melbourne. Voyager was cut in two by the impact.
The disaster resulted in the loss of 82 lives (14 officers, including the commanding officer, 67 sailors and one civilian dockyard employee). There were 232 survivors.
When news of the wreck reached Sydney the following day, it immediately captured the attention of the public. In the days following, the media provided extensive coverage of the search for survivors and victims, and daily chronicled the progress of the inquest. Residents were drawn to the scene for the morbid task of identifying friends, relatives and business associates. Still only a relatively small town, Sydney was staggered by the enormity and proximity of the tragedy. A mass funeral for those who died and who, in most cases, could not be identified was held on 24 September. The interments took place at St. Stephen's Cemetery, Camperdown where there is still a monument to the victims. The DUNBAR sinking is known as "Australia's Titanic"
In the raging seas for a further two hours she dragged anchors and was driven Northward into the harbour. During this time unsuccessful attempts were made to secure a tow line to tugs The Wahine then began to develop a severe list and the order to abandon ship was given at 1315 to the 734 men women and children aboard. Many of those who perished were in the first lifeboat away which swamped soon after launching. The others land safely on the beach at Seatoun. Despite all rescue attempts 51 people lost their lives; 44 passengers, six crew members and one stowaway.
The spill posed threats to the delicate food chain that supports Prince William Sound's commercial fishing industry. Also in danger were ten million migratory shore birds and waterfowl, hundreds of sea otters, dozens of other species, such as harbor porpoises and sea lions, and several varieties of whales.
Three methods were tried in the effort to clean up the spill : Burning, Mechanical Cleanup & Chemical Dispersants. Each method met with only limited success and the skimming of oil from the water surface with towed booms, is shown. Two boats are towing the boom (only one is visible in this photo). Oil is collecting within the boom, and a small skimmer at the apex of the boom is removing the oil from the water surface. The skimmed oil is being pumped through a hose into the barge that is following the skimmer.
Laid Down March 31, 1909
Launched May 31, 1911
Length 882ft. 9in.
Moulded depth 59ft 6in.
Tonnage Gross 46,329
Net 21,831
Decks 7
Engines 2 triple expansion and 1 turbine
Horsepower 46, 000 (Total)
Service Speed 21 knots
Top speed 23-24 knots
Officers and Crew 685
Last voyage April 10, 1912
Length of Service 4 1/2 days
Parent Company International Mercantile Marine(IMM)
Fleet White Star Line
Sister Ships Olympic, Britannic
Manufacturer Harland & Wolff
At 11:40pm, in the crows nest, Frederick Fleet and Lee struggled to make out what was looming in the distance. Suddenly Fleet jerked the warning bell three times and telephoned the bridge and shouted, "Iceberg right ahead!".The Titanic was on a collision course with a massive iceberg and the officers in the crow's watched in horror, as they waited for the impact.On the Bridge, First Officer William Murdoch
Captain Smith felt the impact and rushed in. "What have we hit?" Smith asked. "An iceberg, sir. I reversed the engines and turned the wheel hard to starboard and then hard to port, but she was too close...and she hit.", Murdoch replied. The two men quickly sent for Thomas Andrews, the ship's designer who was working and hadn't noticed the collision. Shortly thereafter, Smith and Andrews went to see what had been damaged. The iceberg had scraped below Titanic's waterline and damaging the starboard side in at least five and perhaps six of the watertight compartments. Water was hurling into the ship's first five compartments and Titanic was incapable of floating with more than the first three compartments damaged, possibly 4, but no more. The pumps in Boiler Room 6 were keeping the water out so far, but water from Boiler Room 5 was now bursting from the forepeak and the bow slightly sank under the pressure as the water kept filling over, like water through an ice cube tray. Andrews informed Smith that the ship had about 1 hour to hour and a half to live. Captain Smith requested that Fourth Officer Boxhall estimate their position and take the note to the Wireless Room. Phillips and Bride were told to send out the call for assistance, a CQD (Come Quickly Distress), followed by the Titanic's call letters-MGY and the ship's position. Philips and Bride began immediately calling for help.
The collision didn't wake all; for instance, people that were in a good sleep didn't even notice anything, and
people awake, felt a slight vibration. But some passengers were concerned that the engines were stopped. But
soon afterward, sailors walked door to door telling the passengers to put their life vests on, dress warmly and
report to the boat deck. Shortly after midnight, Captain Smith ordered the lifeboats ready. Many of the women thought it would be safer on the ship, but they were physically picked up and set into the lifeboats. On the port side, where Lightoller was in charge, headed the tradition, only women and children were allowed in the boats; however, on the starboard side, where Murdoch was in charge, allowed men to get into the boats if there were no women in sight.
At 12:45 AM, lifeboat 7 with a maximum capacity of sixty-five was lowered into the water with just
twenty-eight people on board. Meanwhile, Quartermaster George Rowe began firing the distress rockets every five minutes. Lifeboats were still leaving the ship only partially filled. At 1:15 AM, Lifeboat 1, that had a maximum
capacity of forty was lowered with 12 people in it. The last wooden lifeboat, Lifeboat 4, was lowered shortly
before 2:00 AM. The Titanic's richest man, John Jacob Astor handed his pregnant wife into the boat and denied
the chance to get away with her. He helped other women into the boat and the boat made the 15 foot trip instead
of the usual 70 foot journey to the ocean. At 2:05 AM Captain Smith went into the wireless room and told the two operators that they had done their duties and should look out for their own safety. Phillips stayed at his post as did boiler officers and electricians to keep the power on. At this time, the stern was rising steadily out of the water and the people either headed for the stern or jumped off hoping to swim to one of the lifeboats.
The Titanic, then breaks in half and the stern section stands nearly vertically for a minute and eases down into the icy water. All that remained of Titanic, was trailing steam and soot, floating debris and bodies, and a scattered array of lifeboats. The Titanic was gone.
Figures for losses vary as do the figures for those on board. Therefore the following figures can only be approximations based on a cross section of references. The number of people on board was just over 2200 made up of just over 1300 passengers and nearly 900 crew. Of these the losses were about 830 passengers and 685 crew.
The steamer was on her way to Europe and had called at several Queensland ports before heading through Torres Strait. Many passengers had retired to bed and the ship was steaming in calm seas when a sudden violent shock threw passengers and crew off their feet. A submerged rock had ripped through six water-tight compartments of the hull, from the bow to the
Rescue craft which hurried to the scene found two crowded lifeboats, survivors clinging to rafts and wreckage; also many bodies. Later, those who had managed to swim ashore through shark infested waters were rescued from surrounding islands.
A Court of Marine Inquiry exonerated Captain Sanders and his pilot as the danger was not shown on the charts. The Quetta now lies in a treacherous strait where fast currents and poor visibility make diving hazardous. A number of relics have been recovered over the years but the ship is now protected under the Historic Shipwrecks Act. Her remains were declared an Historic Shipwreck in 1981.
