Agra (1895/07/27)

Koombana Bay, close to Point MacLeod in mouth of Estuary

Agra was built by N. Evensen in Norway and had a fiddle head, a square counter stern, one deck and two tiers of beams, and was owned by H. Morgenson. The vessel was insured for £8 000, and was under charter to W.R. Cave and Company of Adelaide, arriving at Fremantle from Adelaide on 14 April 1895. After unloading its cargo the barque sailed to Bunbury.
On 26 July the Agra had been in port for nearly nine weeks, but on account of the severe weather had taken on board only 462 loads of jarrah paving blocks destined for London. It had anchored off the Bunbury Jetty waiting for calmer weather so that it could again come alongside and complete loading. At this time Captain Thorson was in Fremantle on ship’s business and the mate was in charge of the vessel. On Thursday 25 July 1895 he decided to move the Agra from the safe anchorage, where it had already ridden out several blows, to the jetty to continue loading.
THE STRANDING
When the Agra moved from its anchorage the south end buoy used for manoeuvring was not available, so the mate used the barque’s kedge anchor from the starboard quarter to hold the vessel off the jetty. However the bottom in that area was only a thin layer of sand over smooth rock and, with the heavy swell then running, the kedge dragged.
The Agra was therefore hauled well away from the jetty. However around 3.00 a.m. on Friday 26 July the wind increased from the north-north-west, the vessel veered towards the shore and its stern began to strike the bottom. A wire rope was taken to a mooring buoy, but the wind and swell made it impossible to haul further out using this. With the wind increasing and the vessel continuing to strike, soundings showed 3 ft (0.9 m) of water in the hold at daylight, and by 10.00 a.m. this had increased to 6 ft (1.8 m) despite the use of both steam and manual pumps.
The mate decided that it was impossible to keep the Agra afloat, and slipped the chain. The vessel then drifted into shallow water, striking heavily all the while, until it grounded. By midnight the water in the hold had increased to 12 ft (3.7 m).
INQUIRY
A survey by a representative of the Norwegian Underwriters’ Association condemned the Agra as a wreck.
INITIAL SALVAGE
On 22 August 1895 the representative of the underwriters, Captain Gunnersen, called for tenders to discharge the cargo onto the jetty. At the same time the crew were engaged in stripping the vessel of all sails, running gear, and other fittings. It was reported that ‘nothing would be left in the ship but the lower masts’ (Inquirer, 30 August 1895: 4e).
In late 1895 the timber salvaged from the wreck of the Agra was loaded onto the Kingdom of Saxony, using John Bateman’s lighters. This ship had brought a cargo of railway lines for the Boyanup–Bunbury railway.
In March 1896 John Bateman purchased the wreck of the Agra and raised the barque with the aid of a powerful centrifugal pump. Temporarily repaired, the hull was towed to Careening Bay at Garden Island. In mid-October 1896 the barque had been fully repaired and was at anchor in Gage Roads awaiting the arrival of its new captain, a man named Garrick, before proceeding to Albany to load sandalwood for Hong Kong. Bateman had the Agra re-registered at Fremantle (No. 1 of 1897) under the new name Rose. Subsequently he sold 32 shares to Messrs Guthrie and Company of Fremantle in June 1903. The two owners later sold the barque to Chinese interests on 11 July 1905, and the Fremantle register was closed in January 1906.

The wreck of the barque Agra appears close to Point MacLeod on a chart of Bunbury Harbour Improvements, compiled in 1896. The Agra was wrecked then condemned and sold, repaired and re-registered as the ‘Rose’.