Ballarat (1900/06/21)

Bunbury, 100 metres from the wreck of the Carbet Castle

Ballarat was a sailing lighter owned by the Imperial Jarrah Timber and Wood Paving Corporation, and was under the command of Captain Backer with a crew of two. It was valued at £300, and insured for £250 with the Commercial Union Assurance Company Ltd, while the cargo was insured with the Phoenix Insurance Company. The weather on 19 and 20 June had been ‘exceedingly boisterous’ (West Australian, 22 June 1900: 5a), with some widespread very strong gales. Newspapers reported that the storms had been so bad that the ship Canada (2 318 tons), bound from Melbourne to Manilla, had to be towed into Fremantle after losing its main topgallant mast, mizen mast, and a number of sails, and having five of the crew, including the captain and chief officer, injured.
THE LOSS
During a lull in the gales the Ballarat was taking a cargo of 450 railway sleepers to the barque Sidney, anchored in Koombana Bay. During this time a heavy squall struck, blowing away the lighter’s sails. The anchor was quickly dropped, but it did not dig in and the vessel was blown towards the shore until, just before dark, the anchor at last held. The crew pumped the Ballarat dry, and then left for the shore in a small boat, being nearly swamped in the process. In the early hours of 21 June another gale washed the lighter ashore, only 100 m from the wreck of the Carbet Castle, and it there broke up.