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Steve Reynolds
Apr 7, 20236 min read

Research on the Unknown Sailing Ship Photo on Fredrik Movall's Grave


Fredrik Movall’s grave at Cheltenham Cemetery


“Hello, I found this photo of an unknown sailing ship on the grave of Fredrik Movall who was from Lemland in the Aland Islands. He came to Australia and stayed (in South Australia?) I also found this photo that features Fredrik: -


Fredrik Movall can be seen “Seated in the front row to the right” in this photo


Further, “According to “Sailors from sailing ship”, a photograph in the State Library of South Australia found at https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+64069/2 , Fredrik Movall was from Lemland in the Aland Islands (an autonomous territory of Finland). He arrived in Australia on a ship and settled in Adelaide. He can be seen “Seated in the front row to the right” in the photo. The photo “is a collection of 37 views of sailors and sailing ships associated with South Australia photographed by Victor Harpeneen. Sailors from either the 'Lawhill' or the 'Penang' ….. A researcher has identified that the crew sailed in Gustaf Erikson's windjammer 'Melbourne'. The photograph was taken in Port Lincoln in January 1930.”

Are you able to tell me anything about Fredrik or the ship please?”


A close-up of the ship featured on Fredrik’s grave


I soon received this reply from Emilia Wall, Assistant Curator, Ålands sjöfartsmuseum: -

“Dear Steve, Thank you for your email. I have done some research on Fredrik Movall and the four-masted barque Melbourne (ex. Gustav). Unfortunately there is not much information regarding Fredrik. He was born in Flaka, Lemland in Åland and his father was captain Fredrik Vilhelm Movall.

“According to our muster rolls the first voyage Fredrik went on was with the m/s Sunlight as a seamen (sic) (his father was captain of this ship) in 1923. His last voyage was with Melbourne in 1929-1930, if the muster roll is correct he was third mate on the ship at the time and apparently he escaped while in Port Lincoln in 27/1-1930. It seems that he was unmarried.

“As for the four-masted barque Melbourne, it was bought by Gustaf Erikson in 1929. Melbourne went on the grain trade from Australia-Europe. Melbourne made her last voyage in 1932 carrying grain from Port Victoria – Falmouth. However it never arrived to Falmouth, a British oil tanker m/t Seminole collided with Melbourne, and 11 crew members died incl. the captain.”

It seems then that this photo featuring Fredrik Movall onboard the Melbourne* “Seated in the front row to the right” was taken just before he escaped while in Port Lincoln in 27/1-1930: -


Fredrik Movall onboard the Melbourne

“Seated in the front row to the right”


* (There have been a few 'Melbournes'. I was originally looking at one that was built in 1875 and had its name changed to the Macquarie in 1888 and the Fortuna in 1903. It was a 3-masted iron barque of 1965 gross tons: -


The 1875-built Melbourne

(From the Edwardes Collections, as featured on page 119 of "Sails in the South" by Ronald Parsons)

This Melbourne, however, was built in 1892. According to Bing AI, “The Gustav was a four-masted steel barque that was built in 1892 by Russell and Co. Port Glasgow. (As the Australia) It was sold to German owners and renamed Gustav around 1910. In 1929, it was sold to Gustav Erikson for the wheat trade and renamed Melbourne. It was lost in 1932 following a collision with the tanker Seminole.”

According to “Edge of the World” by Paul Lloyd in The Advertiser’s “Weekend” lift-out for22nd May 1999, Gustav Erikson cut costs for his ships by not insuring them at all.


The Gustav (1892-built Melbourne)


It looks somewhat similar to the one in the photo on Fredrik’s headstone: -




The Gustav


I also found this photo of the Gustav at https://www.flickr.com/photos/anmm_thecommons/7192702776 : -


The Gustav

(Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/anmm_thecommons/7192702776)


The photo is part of the Australian National Maritime Museum’s Samuel J. Hood Studio collection. It possibly depicts the Gustav in Rose Bay, Sydney during its 1926-1927 visit.

As Emilia Wall said above, “Melbourne made her last voyage in 1932 carrying grain from Port Victoria (SA) – Falmouth. However it never arrived to Falmouth, a British oil tanker m/t Seminole collided with Melbourne, and 11 crew members died incl. the captain.” Fredrik Movall was probably very fortunate that he had escaped from the vessel while in Port Lincoln in 1930.

I am holding files of paper cuttings on both the Gustav and the (1892) Melbourne. Certainly, both are the same vessel. There are many reports of seamen deserting their ship over the years. The only single report in the Gustav file concerns a group of seamen deserting their ship in Port Adelaide in 1926. One of the seamen was a Paul Strauss who later worked on other vessels, including the Tickera. He later became an operator on the Birkenhead Bridge in Port Adelaide.

As for the Melbourne’s collision with the tanker Seminole, it happened about early July 1932. The Finnish vessel had departed from Port Victoria, SA with a cargo of grain. It was competing in the annual wheat/grain race from Australia. One report says that the Melbourne “was sunk off the Fastnet (Rock) after a collision in a dense fog with the British tanker Seminole. Eleven of the crew were drowned.”

Another report says, “The Melbourne sank in a few minutes*. …. She belonged to the famous fleet of grain-racing windjammers.”

According to Wikipedia, “Grain Race or The Great Grain Race was the informal name for the annual windjammer sailing season generally from South Australia's grain ports on Spencer Gulf to Lizard Point, Cornwall on the southwesternmost coast of the United Kingdom, or to specific ports. A good, fast passage Australia-to-England via Cape Horn was considered anything under 100 days.”

* (Another report says “four minutes”. “Several of the men were asleep when the crash came, and in the darkness and confusion did not reach the deck…. After sighting the Fastnet at 11pm …. The vessel’s siren blowing. The crew was called on deck as a collision was imminent, but not all the men could respond in time. Immediately afterwards there was a terrific crash in the forepart of the ship, which dived nose first in four minutes. The stem was apparently cut off. Eleven men, including Captain Johannsen, were drowned, and 15 were rescued by a lifeboat from the Seminole. One man is now in hospital in Queenstown with an injured leg. The others, who escaped in only their shirts and trousers, are suffering from exposure. Members of the crew on deck jumped overboard when the ship was about to sink. Several men who were asleep between t5he fore and main masts probably became entangled in the rigging or were unable to reach the deck.” Further, “when the barque rounded Cape Horn (during the voyage) a hurricane damaged the bridge and the wheelhouse. The galley was flooded.”)

There is a photo for another report, along with the caption “Photo shows survivors arriving at Queenstown, Ireland.”

Another report says “the captain, first and third officers, boatswain, chief steward, and six sailors were drowned” in the sinking. The Seminole is said to have rammed the Melbourne and was itself “practically undamaged”.

One report says that Captain Johannsen “was on his last voyage as captain of a sailer. Before he left Finland on the trip ….. his wife did all she could to prevent his starting.” He had taken his pet Alsatian dog Hector onboard with him, and it too drowned.

An Englishman who had stowed away onboard the Melbourne for the final voyage was one of the lucky survivors.

The report goes on to state that the Melbourne “was owned by Captain P. Erikson, of Finland, who also owns the barque Hougomont, which recently became disabled in the (Great) Australian Bight, and is now lying at the Semaphore anchorage before being dismantled.”

I have also been looking closely at the Pamir. The Pamir, like the Gustav, was a steel, 4-masted Finnish barque (of 3020 gross tons built in 1905). This photo of the Pamir from my files was taken outside Sydney Heads on 17th March 1934. It was bound for Queenstown, Ireland with a cargo of 50,000 bags of wheat.


The Pamir


The Australia (later renamed Gustav) was a four-masted steel barque that was built in 1892 by Russell and Co. Port Glasgow.

This photo of the Pamir at anchor from my files also looks somewhat similar to the vessel in the photo on Fredrik’s headstone: -


The Pamir


A close-up of the ship featured on Fredrik’s grave


It has also been suggested that Fredrik’s ship photo might be the Olivebank: -


The Olivebank


The Pamir last visited Port Victoria, SA in 1949 under the command of Captain Bjorkfelt.


My thanks go to Emilia Wall and Adrian Brown for their assistance in the above.

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