SS Waratah
SS Waratah, 1909
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Name: | SS Waratah |
| Owner: | W., F. W. and A. E. Lund |
| Operator: | Blue Anchor Line |
| Port of registry: |
 United Kingdom
|
| Route: | London, England, to Adelaide, Australia, via Durban, South Africa |
| Builder: | Barclay, Curle & Co., Whiteinch, Scotland |
| Launched: | 12 September 1908 |
| Completed: | October 1908 |
| Maiden voyage: | 5 November 1908 |
| Fate: | Disappeared without trace off south Durban, July 1909 |
| Status: | Missing, presumed sunk. |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 16,000 GT |
| Length: | 465 ft (141.7 m) |
| Beam: | 59.2 ft (18.0 m) |
| Installed power: | 5x steel boilers |
| Propulsion: | 2x 4-cylinder triple expansion reciprocating steam engines |
| Speed: | Approximately 13.5 kn (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph) service speed. |
| Capacity: | 432 passenger cabin berths, plus over 600 spaces in dormitories in the holds |
| Crew: | 154 crew |
| Notes: | Waratah cost £13,900 to build, and had lifeboat/raft space for 921 people |
The SS Waratah was a 500-foot (150 m) long cargo liner steamship that operated between Europe and Australia in the early 1900s. In July 1909, the ship, en route from Durban to Cape Town, disappeared with 211 passengers and crew aboard. To this day, no trace of the ship has been found.
The Waratah was a steamer, built by Barclay Curle & Co in Whiteinch, Glasgow (Scotland), and destined to be the flagship of the Blue Anchor Line, which was owned by Messrs. W. Lund and Sons. It was named Waratah after the emblem flower of New South Wales, Australia, which appears to have been an unlucky name: one ship of that name had been lost off the island of Ushant in the English Channel in 1848, one in 1887 on a voyage to Sydney, another south of Sydney, and one in the Gulf of Carpentaria in 1897.
The ship was designed to serve as a passenger and cargo liner to Australia, and was launched on 12 September 1908 by Mrs J. W. Taverner, wife of the Agent-General of Victoria. It had 100 first class cabins, eight state rooms and a salon whose panels depicted its namesake flower, as well as a luxurious music lounge complete with a minstrel's gallery. As well as these luxurious quarters, Waratah was intended to serve the strong emigrant trade from Europe to Australia. On the outward journey her cargo holds would be converted into large dormitories capable of holding almost 700 steerage passengers. On the return journey she would be laden with goods, mainly foodstuffs. She was fitted out for carrying refrigerated cargo, could carry food and stores for a year at sea, and had an on-board desalination plant that could produce 5,500 gallons (25,000 litres) of fresh water a day. She did not carry a radio, which was not unusual for the time.
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