According to comments made on “Ships’ Nostalgia”, the “Loch Vennachar was a three-masted iron sailing ship (clipper) that operated between Great Britain and Australia between the late 19th century and 1905.
Loch Vennachar under sail
(Painting by Frederick Dawson in watercolour)
(Photo courtesy of the South Australian Maritime Museum)
“The name was drawn from Loch Venachar, a lake which lies to the south-west of the burgh of Callander, in the Stirling region of Scotland. It is understood to mean "most beautiful lady" in Scottish Gaelic.
“In September 1905, she sank without trace and with all hands, leaving a spray of wreckage scattered along the south coast of Kangaroo Island. In 1976, her extensively damaged remains were discovered in an average depth of 12 metres (40 ft) of water near West Bay, Kangaroo Island in South Australia (SA) by the Society for Underwater Historical Research (SUHR).” (As reported in “The Loch Vennachar Expedition Report” in 1977.)
Other comments on the site refer to the grave of one of the crew from the ship: -
“I recently found a photo' of a cross just above the shoreline at West Bay on Kangaroo Island, South Australia. I posted it in the Memorials section of Photos. It is a memorial to the only body found from the schooner Loch Vennachar. She went down in 1905 on a very remote part of Kangaroo Island. ….. The body was buried in the sand nearby, and as far as I can find out still lies there.”
The grave of one of the crew from the Loch Vennachar
Further, “The body found was that of a young man, probably that of one of the crew. No other bodies were ever found.”
These pictures of the grave feature in “Kangaroo Island Shipwrecks” by the late Gifford Chapman: -
(Photo on right taken by George Lonzar)
(Source: “Kangaroo Island Shipwrecks” by the late Gifford Chapman)
“Kangaroo Island Shipwrecks” by Gifford Chapman says, “…. Sunday 26th November (1905). On the beach they found a decomposed body, apparently that of a youth, but it was too decomposed to attempt to identify.”
It seems that the body was buried, and the site was marked with a wooden cross. The original cross had to be replaced later on after being destroyed.
According to Wikipedia, “The grave of the unidentified seaman can still be seen to this day at West Bay, however with a replica wooden cross as the original cross made from rigging spars from the wreckage was destroyed by vandals during the 1970s.
The bower anchor which was previously located at the Flinders Chase Homestead was moved to a site adjoining the visitors car park on the south side of West Bay prior to 2006."
The northern headland of West Bay was named Vennachar Point in the memory of the ship in 1908.
Vennachar Point was named in the memory of the ship
(Photo taken by Bill Jeffery)
(Source: "Shipwreck Sites of Kangaroo Island" by Robert McKinnon)
(Source: "Conservation of the Loch Vennachar Anchor 1983" by the Society for Underwater Historical Research)
This photo by Andrew Geering gives a clearer picture of the site: -
(Photo taken by Andrew Geering)
(Source: “Kangaroo Island Shipwrecks” by Gifford Chapman)
The coastline at the site are very steep, as can be seen above. According to the second printing of “Kangaroo Island Shipwrecks” by Gifford Chapman, "The remains of the (Loch Vennachar) were found (in 10m of water) just north (500m) of Vennachar Point. The bow section lies in thirty feet (9.14m) of water at the base of a one hundred foot (30.48m) cliff."
These two photos show just how divers from the Society for Underwater Historical Research had to enter the water from those cliffs: -
(Source: SUHR archives)
(Source: SUHR archives)
Of the diving, diver Terry Smith says, “ ...police aqualung squad did a lot of the initial rope grid line set-up across the wreck site so we could measure & map it...wreckage was triangulated with two fibreglass tape measures...recorded on whiteboard then brought back to me in camp at the end of each dive...I had a tent to myself with a trestle table and transferred whiteboard info onto a master plan.."
Much more can be found on Ships Nostalgia, such as "The steamer Governor Musgrave was sent on two separate occasions to search for the wreck and any survivors. Weeks of searching by government and local fishing boats produced only flotsam and the body of a young seaman, who was never identified. He was buried in the sand hills of West Bay. The search was eventually abandoned on 12 October (1905)."
Here is a Wikipedia photo of Captain W. Hawkins and Chief Officer James Priest: -
There is also this list which contains 23 names of crew onboard the ship (It indicates that there were no passengers on the last voyage): -
"W. S Hawkins, master, Glasgow (Capt. William Stevenson Hawkins)
James Priest, mate, North Shields
Charles Radcliffe, second mate, USA
Fred. W. Lake, third mate, Melbourne
James Reid, carpenter, Dumbarton
W. Molseed, steward, Greenock
W. McLean, cook, Glasgow
R. Simpson, sailmaker, Greenock
Eugen(e) Broberg, A.B., Stockholm
Donald Mathie(r)son, A.B., Skye
A. Anderson, A.B., Kragero
E. McEwan (McEwen?), A.B., Greenock
Thomas Anderson, A .B., Arandel
Hugh Humphreys (Humphries?), A.B., Portmadoc
Alexander Dunlop, A.B., Rothesay
M. Jenson (Jensen?), A.B., Aarhus
David Hanson (Ronson?), A.B., Bergen
E. Holden, A.B., Newark, N.J.
John Bickle, A.B., Edinburgh
William Barry, A.B., Adelaide
Edward McPhie, O.S., Morven
William Turnbull, O.S., Grangemouth
William Martin, O.S., Glasgow
Joseph W. Hadley, apprentice, Wivenhoe
*Thomas. W. Pearce, apprentice, Southampton
D. S. B. Thomson, apprentice, Melbourne
Horace Eastwood, apprentice, Knottingley (Knotting?)
(The abbreviations A.B. and O.S. refer respectively to Able seaman and Ordinary seaman.)
Note that there are two Australians on this list - William Barry, A.B., Adelaide and D. S. B. Thomson, apprentice, Melbourne.
* ("The passing of Thomas Pearce received attention in the Australian press due to his father, Tom Pearce, being well known as one of the 2 survivors of the Loch Ard wrecking in 1878, and as his grandfather, James Pearce, was the captain of SS Gothenburg at the time of her loss in 1875.")
It can only be assumed that the sailor buried at West Bay is one of the people listed above. A similar list is included in “Kangaroo Island Shipwrecks” by Gifford Chapman, along with this photo of some of the crew, taken by John Boon, the great grandson of Capt. William Stevenson Hawkins: -
(Source: “Kangaroo Island Shipwrecks” by Gifford Chapman)
Here is a photo of the late Gifford Chapman with John Boon, the great grandson of Capt. William Stevenson Hawkins: -
(Source: “Kangaroo Island Shipwrecks” by Gifford Chapman, taken from "The Islander")
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