The wrecking of the RV Saori
- Steve Reynolds
- 9 minutes ago
- 3 min read
The 85-ton, two-masted ketch RV Saori, an 18m-long wooden research vessel, was built (by Reg Sprigg & Dennis/Denis O’Malley?) in 1963.
(1963 according to “Paradise is Underwater – Memoir of a marine biologist” by Dr Scoresby Shepherd AO. 1965 according to “South Australian Shipwrecks – A Data Base 1802-1989” by Peter Christopher. “Rock Star (The story of Reg Sprigg – An outback legend)” by Kristin Weidenbach gives more details – “MV Saori, launched 26 April 1963”.)
‘SAORI’ is an acronym for either South Australian Oceanic Research Institute or South Australian Oceanographic Research Institute. Reg Sprigg had formed the South Australian Oceanographic Research Institute when South Australia’s Premier, Tom Playford had declined to do so.
Dennis/Denis O’Malley had been the Chief Engineer for the Department of Marine and Harbours before going on to work for Reg Sprigg. A departmental barge was later named the Dennis/Denis O’Malley after Dennis/Denis. A photo of the barge can be seen at DENIS O'MALLEY | Passengers in History
Plans were made to sell Saori around 1973 and it was soon made into a shark fishing boat. It didn’t last much longer though, being wrecked by mid-1975.
According to the part titled “The wreck of the Saori (1975)” in “Wedge Island – An Unexpected History” by Garry Keywood, “On the 1st June 1975, Owner/Skipper John Steerle, his brother Stuart Steele, Graham Johnson & passenger Thomas Moffat, set out aboard the Saori for a planned shark fishing trip near the Gambier Islands. They first stopped off to fish for bait off the 180-metre-high cliffs at Wedge Island, drifting & occasionally using the motor to keep clear of the cliffs.
Finally, as they prepared to put out to sea, a fuel line broke causing engine failure. The crew deployed their anchors, but they failed to hold & the big swells quickly drove the 66-foot Saori towards the cliffs. The 4 men escaped the hapless vessel in a dinghy & rowed seaward as the Saori was driven against the cliff. Striking the rocks stern first, a big swell then lifted the ketch up onto a flat ledge roughly above a normal high tide mark, where it remained, leaning against the cliff.
The 4 men rowed some 5 kilometres around Homestead Beach & reached the shore safely, despite the fact that their dinghy was swamped in the surf. They spent the night in a unoccupied homestead & eventually were flown from the island the following day. Several attempts to refloat the vessel failed, although much of its fittings & equipment was salvaged.”
As Henry Harrop wrote at https://mlssa.org.au/2016/12/08/the-unveiling-of-reg-spriggs-dive-chamber-at-the-patawalonga-glenelg-north-sa/#comment-17128 , “Re Reg Sprigg’s dive chamber - The diving bell was used on the stern of the Saori. The Saori was also used in the filming of “Blue Water White Death” (1971) with Ron and Valerie Taylor.”
There is a photo of the diving chamber on the stern of (MV) Saori on page 176 of “Rock Star (The story of Reg Sprigg – An outback legend)” by Kristin Weidenbach. Saori was owned by Reg Sprigg’s Geosurveys company at that time. It is described as being an ’oceanic research vessel’.
The same photo of the diving chamber on the stern of (RV) Saori also features in “Paradise is Underwater – Memoir of a marine biologist” by Dr Scoresby Shepherd AO.
As indicated above, “Rock Star (The story of Reg Sprigg – An outback legend)” calls Saori MV Saori and “Paradise is Underwater – Memoir of a marine biologist” calls Saori RV Saori. ‘RV’ for Research Vessel seems most appropriate.
Although Saori is covered by both books., there seems to be a bit more content in “Rock Star (The story of Reg Sprigg – An outback legend)”., and this book has an index whilst there is no index in “Paradise is Underwater – Memoir of a marine biologist”.
Details about the demise of Saori start on page 250 of “Rock Star (The story of Reg Sprigg – An outback legend)”.
My thanks go to Garry Keywood for his assistance with details and photos of the Saori.
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