Premier (1873/07/01)

Port Irwin (Port Denison)

Length: 75 ft (22.9 m) at launch, 86 ft (26.2 m) after 1873 refit
Breadth: 15 ft (4.6 m) at launch, 18.17 ft (5.5 m) after 1873 refit
Depth 6.33 ft (1.9 m) at launch, 8 ft (2.4 m) after 1873 refit
Tonnage: 51.63 gross at launch, 84.42 gross, 83.39 underdeck after 1873 refit

Charles Watson built the Premier for himself at his yard in Perth. A wooden two-masted schooner, it was built of jarrah and had a square stern. Watson had done his apprenticeship under Thomas Mews. During his working life he built a number of pilot boats, gigs and dinghies for various government departments. Watson mortgaged the schooner in September 1869 to Henry Saw, storekeeper of Perth for £1?000 at 25%. This mortgage was discharged in August 1872. The Premier was sold to Mary Ann Saw, Thomas Saw and George Glyde a month later, and then sold by them to John Brockman, grazier of Busselton, a month after that. Brockman mortgaged the Premier to Thomas Ashford, innkeeper of Bunbury, for £450 at 10% within days of his purchase. In mid-April 1873 the vessel was lengthened and given a round stern. Less than three months later it was wrecked.
THE LOSS
The Premier arrived in Port Irwin on 28 June 1873 after a twelve-day voyage from Fremantle with a cargo of telegraph posts. The weather was too rough for it to be tied alongside the jetty. There were two anchors down when, on 1 July, a strong north-westerly wind caused it to drag the anchors. Despite letting go a third anchor the increasing wind drove it onto rocks near the shore in 2 m of water. The false keel and rudder were badly damaged. Reports describe the vessel’s bottom as being broken or holed. Strong north and north-westerly winds blew for the next three weeks. This anchorage is open to the north and north-west and the schooner would have pounded continuously on the rocks. The Premier was finally abandoned.
A letter from a Dongara correspondent to the editor of the Inquirer states:
I regret to report the stranding of the schooner Premier, which occurred on the 1st inst. The vessel was heavily laden with telegraph posts, and arrived in Port on the 11th ult. The weather was rough and the sea high so she was not hauled alongside the jetty to unload. There being no proper moorings the vessel dragged until she came onto a flat reef of rocks close to the shore. All her cargo has been recovered. Her bottom is broken, and she is in six or seven ft of water. With proper gear and good tackle the vessel might be hauled ashore and repaired, but there is not one article fit for the purpose at hand. The Irwin port is sure to get the blame of this accident. Fortunately it is the first wreck which has occurred through a vessel dragging her anchors. The loss could not have fallen upon a more worthy man than the owner (The Inquirer and Commercial News, 30 July 1873).
INQUIRY
An inquiry came to the conclusion that the poor holding ground offered by the flat rocky seabed caused the wrecking.
INITIAL SALVAGE
All the telegraph posts that made up the cargo were recovered. Julius Brockman, brother of the owner, later recovered an anchor chain, anchor and some tarpaulins.