Shipwreck Databases Western Australian Museum

Awhina (1936/04/19)

Albany, Ledge Bay, off Gull Rock

Awhina was sold to the Tug Boat Company Ltd of Auckland in 1887, and then to joint owners, Edwin Alfred Mitchell, Andrew Dalton and William Henry Baker, of New South Wales in 1891. John Bateman of Fremantle purchased the vessel on 2 June 1900, when it was then first registered at Fremantle (No. 11/1900). There were a number of subsequent Western Australian owners. Awhina Steamship Co. Ltd bought it in December 1904, selling it to Swan River Shipping Co. Ltd in 1909. In late 1917 it was sold by McIlwraith, McEarchan and Company Proprietary, Ltd to Alexander Armstrong and George Waters (joint owners) in Albany. They sold it to Ernest McGregor Christie ten years later. The last owners were Francis Lesley Eliot, Clem Douglas and Alex Armstrong (jnr) all of Albany who bought the Awhina on 5 June 1928. In 1930 the original worm eaten rudder was replaced by a locally-built one of jarrah.

THE LOSS
In 1936 at the end of its economically useful life the Awhina was sold for £50 to J. Hall, a scrap metal merchant of Fremantle. It was alongside the town jetty at Albany being stripped when it sank in about 4 m of water. The engines had been dismantled and either water entered through the propeller shaft hole, or where a seacock had been left open or had failed.

INITIAL SALVAGE
A diver went down and plugged the leak on the Awhina and it was pumped out by the Bonthorpe, another steam tug. After being put on a mooring and the remaining salvaged parts taken off, the tug was towed by the Bonthorpe to the bay just west of Ledge Point and inshore from Gull Rock. On 19 April 1936 it was beached and set on fire. The boiler and parts of the hull can still be seen.

The steering wheel from Awhina (not the original, but one from a sailing ship) was salvaged by Les Douglas and is on loan to the Albany Residency Museum, as are some other items.

SITE LOCATION
The wreck of the Awhina lies close to the shore in the bay just west of Ledge Point and inshore from Gull Rock. It is best located by the boiler projecting above the level of the sea.

SITE DESCRIPTION
The wreck of the Awhina lies in 2-4 m of water with the single ended return tube boiler extending about 1 m above sea level. The boiler is subject to rolling movement in the waves. The timber which was below the level of the sea at the time the tug was burned also remains on site. The close spacing of the frames is noteworthy. This was a necessary strengthening feature in a tug. Some planking, ceiling and the associated fastenings remain, as does some of the copper sheathing. The boiler appears to have been supported on large timbers which are partly visible beneath it. A water tank lies 50 m from the stern. The propeller shaft bearing still retains the lignum vitae lining.

EXCAVATION AND ARTEFACTS
During the 1990 survey of the wreck of the Awhina by the Department of Maritime Archaeology, Western Australian Museum, four fastenings and a section of metal rail were recovered for analysis.

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
HISTORIC (1)
When the 9 000 tons of coal on board the steamer Castlemoor caught fire in September 1928 the Awhina was used to put the fire out. This took some six or seven days of pumping water into the steamer’s holds, and prevented the total loss of the ship (see entry). This was only one of several fires on board ships that were fought by the Awhina during its period at Albany.

During World War I as the Australian Expeditionary Force vessels were collecting at Albany, Awhina was kept busy as it was one of the few tugs available to service the needs of the fleet.

SOCIAL (3)
The Awhina had a ship’s whistle with a distinctive sound. For many years of its working life this whistle (said to sound more like a siren) was used to summon on duty lumpers needed to work the hulks and bunker visiting steamers. It must have been a sound very familiar to the people of Albany.

INTERPRETIVE (6)
The remains of the Awhina are clearly visible and easily accessible so have the potential to provide public education through interpretive signage.

RARE (7)
The Awhina is the only New Zealand-built, 19th century tug in the area covered by this book.

REFERENCES
Dahl, A., Gauntlett, M., Kenderdine, S. & Smith, T., 1990, The Albany Report: The Awhina Survey and the Athena (?) Wreck Inspection. Report – Department of Maritime Archaeology, Western Australian Museum, No. 49.

Gainsford, M. & Souter, C., 2005, Albany Wreck Inspection, Terrestrial Inspections and Perth Conservation studies, 2005. Report – Department of Maritime Archaeology, Western Australian Museum, No. 206.

Marshall, G., 2001, Maritime Albany Remembered. Tangee Pty Ltd, Kalamunda.

McKenna, R., 1959, Vessels registered with the British Register of Ships at the Port of Fremantle, WA. Unpublished manuscript.

The Albany Advertiser, 21 November 1917: 2h.

Western Australian Museum, Department of Maritime Archaeology, File No. 195/72.

Awhina was a 136 tonne wooden screw steam tug, owned by Swan River Shipping Co. Ltd., Perth. It was built by Hector Macquarrie in Auckland, New Zealand in 1884 and registered at Fremantle in 1900. Awhina was a strongly built working vessel and after working in the New Zealand timber trade was sold to owners in Newcastle, NSW where it became part of a fleet of 11 tugs. In 1900 it arrived in Fremantle where it again worked as a tug during the week, and a pleasure cruise boat on the weekends!
The Awhina came to Albany in 1912 where it spent the remainder of its working life in the harbour as a tug towing vessels in and out of port, towing hulks out to sea to be sunk, towing floats for gunnery target practice and supplying the Eclipse Island lighthouse.

On 19 April 1936, Awhina was towed out of the harbour and burnt off Gull Rock at Ledge Bay, near Albany.

Ship Built

Owner The Swan River Shipping Co., Lim., Perth, Mssrs. Douglas, Armstrong & others

Master Martin

Builder Hector Macquarrie, designed by Mr Trevithick

Country Built NZ

Port Built Auckland

Port Registered Fremantle

When Built 1884/12/04

Ship Lost

Gouped Region South-Coast

Sinking Set alight after being sprinkled with tar and oil. (Collided with Uraidla?)

Crew 4

When Lost 1936/04/19

Where Lost Albany, Ledge Bay, off Gull Rock

Latitude -35.0143013833

Longitude 118.0040418667

Position Information GPS 2005

Minimum Depth of site 2.00

Ship Details

Engine 50 Sc. built by Bowen McLauchlin and Coy, Paisley, Scotland

Length 30.50

Beam 6.40

TONA 135.00

Draft 3.10

Museum Reference

Official Number 87528

Unique Number 1431

Sunk Code Burnt

File Number 2010/0030/SG _MA-195/72

Chart Number 1849/2619

Protected Not protected State

Found Y

Inspected Y

Date Inspected 1991

Confidential NO