Croydon (1905)

Hopetoun Harbour (Mary Ann haven)

Croydon was built in Singapore by Riley Hargreaves & Co. It had one deck, a straight stem, an elliptical stern and one mast which was fore-and-aft rigged. The original owners were Henry Osborn (21 shares), Ebenezer Martin (18 shares), Francis John Meagher (9 shares) and Augustus Sandford Moe (16 shares). The vessel was not registered in Fremantle until 1899 (No. 9/1899) when these Western Australian joint owners sold it to The Adelaide Steamship Company Limited. The Croydon was initially purchased by the company for local work in the north-west. However, during 1904-05 it was used along the south coast, carrying mail and cargo between Albany and ports to the east. It carried no passengers.

THE STRANDING
There appears to be no report in the newspapers of the circumstances surrounding the stranding of the Croydon. In September 1905 an Adelaide paper reported on the annual general meeting of the Adelaide Steamship Company. The meeting was informed that ‘The Croydon struck a reef entering Hopetoun Harbour (WA) in February, and was abandoned to the Underwriters’ (Advertiser, 21 September 1905: 9a). While the fact that the Croydon struck a reef is not in doubt, but the date of the stranding is doubtful. During March 1905 the steamer is known to have been still voyaging between Albany and the small ports to the east. For instance, it was reported that it arrived at Hopetoun from Albany at 7.00 a.m. on 16 March 1905 (West Australian, 17 March 1905: 4a). Also it was not abandoned to the underwriters until at least mid-April.

INITIAL SALVAGE
The stranded Croydon was got off the reef and repaired sufficiently so that on 8 April 1905 it could be taken in tow by the Adelaide Steamship Company’s own steamer Tarcoola (2 647 tons) for Adelaide, arriving on 13 April. At that time it was still owned by the company. On arrival at Adelaide it was to undergo repairs and an overhaul. Just over a month later the following advertisement appeared in an Adelaide paper:
On TUESDAY May 23, at noon
AT THE MART, 20, CURRIE-STREET
ADELAIDE
THE STEEL SCREW STEAMER “CROYDON”
68 tons Register, 25 horse-power.
Built in Singapore in 1896.
Length, 76 ft; Breadth, 16 ft; Depth 6 ft 7 in.
AS SHE NOW LIES AT PORT ADELAIDE,
OPEN TO INSPECTION
J.H. WEIDENHOFER & CO.
Are instructed to sell by auction, as above (Advertiser, 16 May 1905: 10b).

The Croydon was sold to William Rendall Cave of Adelaide for £185. On 12 August 1913 the Fremantle Registry was closed when the vessel was registered at Port Adelaide (No. 11/1913) to W.R. Cave & Co. In 1918 it was sold to the Huon Shipping & Logging Co., Hobart, and the following year sprang a leak and sank in the Savage River on the east coast of Tasmania.