Thetis (1846/07/29)

Torbay

Thetis was built for Messrs Morton and Gray at Fremantle and launched on 24 April 1845. It had one deck, a square stern, a scroll head, and was described in a newspaper as ‘a pretty little vessel, and has more the appearance of a yacht than a profitable trading craft’ (Gazette, 26 April 1845: 2c). However, Mrs Eliza Chester, who travelled as a passenger from Fremantle to Albany in 1845, considered it:
a most miserable and wretched little boat. When lying in my bunk I could not raise my head, for if I did I would bump it. I slept on one side of the boat, my mother in the centre and my two sisters on the other side. The ship was not lined. We came down to our bunks through a hole about two feet across. There was no ladder, but hanging down from the centre of the roof was a horrible old rusty chain, the end of which lay in coils on the bottom of the boat in bilge water. Outside the hole on the deck was an iron grid they used to boil the kettle on (Western Mail, 27 January 1927: 16c).

Many of the schooner’s early voyages were under the command of Thomas Morton, a part-owner. As Morton and Gray were involved in whaling at Torbay, the schooner’s cargo was very often related to this trade. For instance when it arrived at Fremantle on 3 February 1847 from King George Sound via the various south-west ports the cargo included 18 casks of oil and five bundles of whalebone.

In July 1846 it was stranded at Torbay, but soon got off. In May 1847 it was sold to the Pelsart Fishing Company for £164. On 30 March 1848 that company sold the Thetis to Patrick Marmion for £97 10s 0d, and this was the first voyage under his ownership.

The Thetis was under the command of Thomas Frederick Flanders Gilman with a crew of two. On the voyage to Augusta the small schooner had sprung its mainmast As a consequence it had called at Castle Rock where a new mast of ‘blue-gum’ (Inquirer, 17 May 1848: 2b) was made, fitted and rigged, the Thetis departing there on 5 May to continue the voyage.

THE LOSS
After landing some cargo for James Turner at Augusta the Thetis set course for Bunbury. However, strong westerly winds prevented it from rounding Cape Leeuwin, so the schooner was turned to run eastward and sought shelter near Black Point. Here the vessel anchored in a small bay near the point. Because the swell produced by the gale threatened to overwhelm the anchored Thetis the cables were slipped, and the schooner deliberately beached to prevent it foundering. Using a rope swum ashore by the two crewmen, Gilman reached the shore safely, and they then walked back to Augusta. The schooner went to pieces on the rocks.

INITIAL SALVAGE
On the arrival of the crew of the Thetis at Augusta the Turners went to the site of the wreck with their bullocks and horses to salvage what they could, but found that the wreck had completely broken up. Some of the cargo was saved, all of it damaged to some extent.

SITE LOCATION
The wreck of the Thetis has not been found.