Rosella (1928/08/08)

Near Geraldton

J.E. Kemdo built the Rosella at Broome in 1912 as a lugger (registration number B319) for John Byrne and Martin Richard Freeney, pearlers. At the time it was wrecked the owners were Dennis ‘Dinny’ Ahearn, fisherman of Geraldton, and Mary Agnes Ahearn. The vessel had very likely been acquired as part payment for a farm sold by Ahearn in the Chapman Valley.
THE LOSS
At 11.00 a.m. the Rosella ran on to the rocks at the channel end of the island breakwater while entering Geraldton Harbour. Although the weather was squally at the time the harbour-master, Mr Sinclair, considered poor seamanship to be the cause of the wreck.
INITIAL SALVAGE
Initial salvage included the Rosella’s masts, spars and some associated fittings, and these were subsequently stored in the Burns Philp & Co. Ltd warehouse in Geraldton.
SITE LOCATION
The wreck site is on the seaward side of the island breakwater at Geraldton Harbour.
SITE DESCRIPTION
One of the authors has dived on the site and there appears to be little or no remains of this vessel. The whole area will be severely disturbed as part of the current Geraldton Port upgrading which includes extensive dredging.
EXCAVATION AND ARTEFACTS
In 1980 one of the authors obtained the main gaff that was then used as the boom on a 10.4?m yacht. Another spar was used at that time to repair the mast of the Robin Gourley designed Britannia, which had been built in 1926.
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
SOCIAL (3)
The Rosella, as an Ahearn vessel, had a similar social significance as the Clare and the Britania.
REFERENCES
Burns, A.C. 1978, Sailing into the past. A record of early fishing industries of Geraldton WA in the days of sail. A.C. Burns, Geraldton.
Cooper, R., 1996, The way it was: Midwest fishermen and their boats from 1894. L.G. Cogan, Geraldton.
Dickson, R., 1996, Ships registered in Western Australia from 1856 to 1969: their details, their owners and their fate. Report—Department of Maritime Archaeology, Western Australian Museum, No. 80.
Dickson, R., 1998, They kept this State afloat—shipbuilders, boat builders, and shipwrights of Western Australia 1829–1929. Hesperian Press, Victoria Park.
Dickson, R., 2002, The price of a pearl. Hesperian Press, Victoria Park.
Totty, D., 1979, Wrecks of WA’s central mainland coast (Jurien Bay to Port Gregory). Unpublished manuscript.