The Register (Adelaide) Monday 18 September, 1905.
THE SHIP LOCH VENNACHAR..
The ship Loch Vennachar, from Glasgow,
has not yet arrived at Port Adelaide, and
there is a growing uneasiness in shipping
circles in regard to her. Twelve days have
elapsed since she was spoken by the steamer
Yongala in lat. 35.21 S. and long.133 E.,
or about 100 miles west of Neptune
Island. At present nautical authorities are
at variance concerning the need for alarm.
On the one hand it is contended that the
stormy weather of last week was never
so violent from any quarter as to prevent a
fine vessel like the Loch Vennachar from
making headway into port. On the other
hand it is considered probable that the
north winds which prevailed just about the
time the Yongala spoke the ship may have
delayed her, and that in the subsequent
gales from the north-west and west Capt.
Hawkins was blown away south, and has
not succeeded in regaining his leeway. On
Sunday evening Capt. C. J. Clare
(Superintendent of the Life-saving Department)
informed a reporter of The Register that,
personally, he thinks the ship has been
blown away to the south, and it will take
her some time to recover her former position.
Considering, however, the anxiety
which is now felt in some quarters, it is
proposed, in the event of no tidings being
received this morning, to send away the
steamer Governor Musgrave on a search
expedition this afternoon. Should that
course be adopted, after consultation with
the agents of the Loch Vennachar (Messrs.
George Wills & Co.), the Governor Musgrave
will skirt the western and southern coasts of
Kangaroo Island, and possibly any
other locality where a ship might be in
distress. The Loch Vennachar is a well
found ship of 1,486 tons net register, and
is commanded by Capt. W. S. Hawkins,
who has made several voyages to Adelaide.
For some years he was master of the Brabloch,
and in 1903 he transferred from the
Loch Ness to his present command. The
Loch Vennachar on her last voyage from
Glasgow reached Port Adelaide in October,
1904.
The Advertiser (Adelaide) Tuesday 28 November, 1905.
THE LOCH VENNACHAR,
BODY FOUND ON KANGAROO,
ISLAND.
WRECKAGE IDENTIFIED.
On Monday evening the superintendent of
the live-saving service (Captain C. J. Clare)
received a telegram from the officer in
charge of the live saving apparatus at
Kangaroo Island (Mounted-Constable Thorpe),
who had been sent out to scour the inhospitable
southern and western shores of the
island for traces of the missing ship Loch
Vennachar, which could settle her fate
beyond doubt. The message had been carried
from West Bay to Cape Borda, and telegraphed
thence to the mainland. It stated that while
inspecting the shelter hut at West Bay on Sunday,
Mounted-Constable Thorpe found a decomposed
body, apparently that of a youth, lying on the
beach close to Shelter Hut Creek, which runs
past the hut at a distance of 200 yards. The
beach in the vicinity was strewn with
wreckage, consisting of large,spars, a
number of ship's buckets, which all had the
name Loch Vennachar painted on the sides,
the stern of a ship's boat with "Loch Vennachar"
painted on it, and a large quantity of heavy
wreckage, with iron and brass fittings, and
ropes attached. There was also a wooden
ladder, cases of tinned fish, reels and bales
of paper, some sailors' working clothes,
and about 30 hogsheads and half hogsheads
of whisky, which by the marks were consigned
to Adelaide and Melbourne firms. , , .
West Bay is situated on the extreme western
end of Kangaroo Island. Its southern point
is Cape Bedout, which is midway between
Cape Borda and Cape de Couedie. In his
telegram Mounted-Constable Thorpe stated,
that he fixed the wreck of the Loch Vennachar
in the vicinity of Cape Bedout, and
there appears to be good ground for the
assumption, in view of the large quantities of
wreckage which have been washed up in the
neighborhood. This being so, the opinion
formed when the wreckage was first discovered
on the south-eastern part of the island, that the
vessel had gone to pieces south of Cape Hart or
a little farther to the westward, in attempting to
make Backstairs Passage, after being blown
south by the gale, must prove incorrect.
On the other hand the present discovery
strongly supports the calculations of
experienced navigators at Port Adelaide
that the Loch Vennachar went down soon
after she was spoken by the steamer Yongala
in the vicinity of the Neptune Islands on
September 6, when the sailing ship was
86 days out from Glasgow to Port Adelaide.
Another significant example where the Yongala was confronted by a serious gale, but unlike the Loch Vennachar which succumbed, proved her seaworthiness..... for the time being.
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| Loch Vennachar - wikipedia |
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