Annie M. Young (1876/11/03)

Koombana Bay, North Beach

Annie M. Young (1863–1876)
Official Number: 48084
Port of Building: Yarmouth, Canada
Year built: 1863
Port of Registration: Dublin, Ireland
Rig Type: Brig
Hull: Composite
Length: 109 ft (33.2 m)
Breadth: 26.5 ft (8.1 m)
Depth: 17.4 ft (5.3 m)
Tonnage: 345 gross, 303 net, 334 underdeck
Port from: Bunbury
Port to: Vasse
Date lost: 3 November 1876
Location: Koombana Bay
Chart Number: Aus 115 & WA 50976
Protection: The site when found will be protected under the general provisions of the Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976
Significance criteria: 2
THE VESSEL
The Annie M. Young was built in Nova Scotia by Messrs Young and Blake for their own use. It was built of iron frames with timber being used for the keel, floors and other components. Launched in December 1863, it was fastened with iron bolts and sheathed in yellow metal. The brig was equipped with six anchors, four of which were of the Trotman design. The Annie M. Young was later sold to W. McCormick of Dublin, who was the owner in 1876.
Under the command of Samuel Tiddy the brig was in Bunbury to load ‘some long timber piles on account of Messrs. Connor & McKay’ (Herald, 4 November 1876: 3e). The cargo, some of which was apparently for Adelaide and some for New Zealand, was valued at over £1?000 and was insured, but the vessel itself was not covered by insurance. On 1 November 1876 with 220 loads of timber on board, the Annie M. Young weighed anchor and stood out for sea. It was to call at the Vasse to ‘fill up with small timber for New Zealand’ (Police records in SRO 129, file 23/911). However the wind died and the vessel was forced to anchor, but in a very exposed position.
THE LOSS
On 3 November, while Captain Tiddy was ashore, a severe gale from the north-west struck the Bunbury anchorage. The Annie M. Young had three anchors down but the severity of the gale caused all three cables to part and, at 1.00 a.m., she was driven onto the north beach about 2.8 km from the mouth of the inlet. Tiddy, according to his evidence at the inquiry, called from the shore for the crew to set the lower fore topsail and the fore topmast staysail in an endeavour to drive the brig further up into the shallows. Four days later the brig had settled 1.5 m into the sand with only 0.6 m of water at its bows and 2.1 m of water in the hold.
INQUIRY
A Court of Inquiry was held which acquitted the captain and crew of all blame.
INITIAL SALVAGE
The Annie M. Young was surveyed (at a cost to Captain Tiddy of £170) and the surveyor ordered the cargo to be discharged. A man named Sam Ward used a bullock team to pull most of the piles and sawn timber from the wreck. This timber was then re-shipped on the French barque Noveau St Michel to Wellington in New Zealand (Inquirer, 21 February 1877: 3b). However the brig itself could not be salvaged.
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
TECHNICAL (2)
The composite method of building ships was developed in the middle years of the 19th century. The Annie M. Young is therefore an early example of this method of construction. Unlike most other composite vessels, although it had iron frames, the keel and floors were of timber.
Trotman anchors were designed by John Trotman and exhibited, along with many other patent anchors, at the Great Exhibition in 1851.
The stock is of iron, similar to the Admiralty anchor; the shank is rectangular in section, somewhat larger at the centre than at the ends, and is made fork-shaped at one end to receive the arms; the arms are in one piece, and are connected to the shank by a bolt passing through their centre (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1893, II: 6).
The advantage of this anchor was that when laid the arm could swivel, and the uppermost fluke would then be pulled down to lie against the shank, and therefore be less likely to foul the chain as the vessel swung at anchor. In 1852 a committee was appointed by the Admiralty to report on the efficiency of eight different anchor designs. The Trotman anchor scored the highest rating, having a 28% superiority over the standard Admiralty anchor.
REFERENCES
Henderson, G. & K., 1988, Unfinished Voyages: Western Australian Shipwrecks 1851–1880. University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands.
Lloyd’s Register of British and Foreign Shipping 1869. Lloyd’s, London.
Lloyd’s Register of British and Foreign Shipping 1874. Lloyd’s, London.
Lloyd’s Register of British and Foreign Shipping 1876. Lloyd’s, London.
Loney, J., 1994, Wrecks on the Western Australian Coast. Ocean Enterprises, Yarram, Victoria.
McCarthy, M., 1982, Koombanah Bay wrecks: an investigation of the wrecks in the bay, for the State Electricity Commission of Western Australia. Report—Department of Maritime Archaeology, Western Australian Maritime Museum, No. 19.
SRO 129, file 23/911).
The Herald, 4 November 1876: 3e.
The Inquirer, Supplement 15 November 1876: 2a, 29 November 1876: 3a & 21 February 1877: 3b.
The West Australian Times, 7 November 1876:3b.
Western Australian Museum, Department of Maritime Archaeology, File No. 405/71—Bunbury.
Withers, E.H., n.d., Happenings Through the Years. Unpublished manuscript, Battye Library.

‘Some time in the [18]80s a vessel called the Annie M. Young went on the north beach, she was partly loaded with timber, a man named Sam Ward had a bullock team, he took the job of getting the piles and other sawn timber out of her, she was too far gone to refloat so they took what they could and then left the rest. A lot of people got firewood from her and wire rigging. She was a wooden ship, as nearly all were at that time. Another ship, the Cingaluse or something like that [Cingalee] also went ashore in nearly the same spot and was broken up.’ (E.H. Withers diary, p. 3)