Waratah

The Waratah was a schooner built in 1889 by William Chamberlain (or AE Brown) in Fremantle for James Clark, one of Broome’s pearl masters. She was registered in Fremantle, and her Official Number was 101510.

Waratah was a 12.3 ton, two-masted gaff-rigged schooner measuring 34 feet in length and 10.5 feet across her beam. She drew only 5.5 feet of water, so she could move in shallow water, which made her suitable for lightering work, moving between fleet vessels, and fast sailing for mail, errands and reprovisioning as well as operating as a dive boat in pearling operations.

Robert Austin Owen was born in Surrey, England in 1841. He was one of seven children born to Edward Owen and Sophia Austin.

When he left school, Robert joined the merchant navy. He was a third mate at the age of 21 years of age. In 1964 he earned his second mate certificate. In 1868 he had his Civil Service Certificate of Age and worked his passage to Australia as a first mate. He settled in Fremantle and studied for his master’s certificate.

Robert gained years of experience both on the coast and in the pearling industry. He was deemed one of the oldest pearling pioneers. He floated the Oriental Pearling Company with a fleet of six boats. He became a Broome Council member and sat on different pearling committees. He was a member of the racing club and the yachting club, and he was the oldest Freemason member.

Waratah and Mikado were newly launched pearling boats that left Fremantle on 19 February 1889. Their maiden voyage should have taken them to join James Clark’s fleet at Roebuck Bay. On 28 February they sailed directly into the path of a cyclone. Mikado escaped major damage, but her crew saw the Waratah sink with her crew aboard.

One of the biggest hazards for the pearling fleets was cyclones which struck the northwest coast most years. Some of them devastated whole fleets of boats. The 1889 cyclone was responsible for staggering losses. Twelve boats sank, 21 wrecked and 49 were seriously damaged. The number of lost lives was shocking.

Sergeant Kennedy of Roebourne Police advised the Police Commissioner of the lost and missing boats and crews and was given authority for any available schooners to search and “save any life or property” they came across. All available boats at Broome were dispatched to render assistance to boats and crews caught in the cyclone.

Waratah was added to the list of boats that were lost with all hands. James Clark dispatched the Mikado and Dawn, to search for boats and missing crew along the coast and around the offshore islands. Dawn found Waratah. She had sunk on her anchors, and then the huge seas had thrown her up onto a reef off Steamboat Island. With the big post-cyclone tides she had been washed off the reef, showing major damage to her hull. This was how Mikado reported her to James Clark when she was seen by Mikado’s crew who were searching for lost boats and their crews.

Dawn was instructed to tow Waratah to Cossack. After patching her hull and starting the tow, it was decided to leave Waratah a safe distance into the Fortescue River until more repairs could be made to her.

The loss of her crew was a significant loss. They seemed lost without a trace.

Master Robert Owen’s death left his wife Clara and four young children in Fremantle. Also in the crew was a well-known young man called George Boyle. He was the son of Warder Boyle at the Fremantle Prison. George had been working aboard Waratah, saving to join the many gold hunters on the Pilbara goldfields. Other unnamed sea men were lost from Waratah.

Then, weeks after the cyclone, two of Waratah’s crew members were recovered. Their story was incredible, and newspapers widely published it. As Waratah was thrown onto the reef during the cyclone, the men were flung into the sea. They were washed directly over another submerged boat, and as they passed it, they grabbed the masts sticking out above the waterline, tangling themselves in the rigging. They were still there when the rescue schooners found them. They were worse for wear, exhausted and suffering from exposure, but they survived.

Waratah was successfully refloated on 10 April 1894. She was repurposed as a lighter for James Clark’s fleet and was re-registered in Fremantle 8/1892 after repairs and some adjustments were made to her hull.

The Oriental Pearling Company operated as a company until 1909.

Sadly, history repeated herself in a cyclone in 1910. There were 120 licensed boats lost out of Fremantle including 28 luggers with 54 lives lost from them. Among the wrecked boats was Waratah, then owned by A. Davis, a northwest pearl master. She was one of 21 pearl boats wrecked. A further 12 boats sank and 49 were damaged.

Almost a year after the 1910 cyclone a whiskey bottle was found with a message in it, signed by a crew member of the Waratah.