Further information has come to hand since writing the blog published at https://stevereynolds.wixsite.com/website/post/the-anchors-from-the-joseph-h-scammell
There has been a suggestion that a stock from one of the anchors had disappeared. I contacted author Geoff Nayler who had been involved in the recovery of the three anchors, asking him for an explanation. He told me that the big one at Torquay never had a stock, nor did the one at Queenscliff.
Geoff also provided me with these three new photos to illustrate his point: -
(Photo courtesy of Geoff Nayler)
Clearly, this (first) anchor above had a stock.
This (second) anchor above does not have a stock.
(Photo courtesy of Geoff Nayler)
Nor does this (third) smaller anchor above.
Just going back over my earlier blog photos at https://stevereynolds.wixsite.com/website/post/the-anchors-from-the-joseph-h-scammell: -
This appears to be the first anchor recovered on 29th November 1970: -
(Source: “Shipwrecks along the Southern Coast” by GA (Geoff) Nayler)
This appears to be the second anchor recovered: -
(Sources: https://www.torquayhistory.com/places/scammell-anchor/ and
This one would be the third anchor recovered: -
(Photo courtesy of Geoff Nayler)
This third anchor, possibly of 6cwt (272.155 kg), was earlier said to be in diver Geoff Nayler’s private collection, but he says that it is now in the Queenscliffe Maritime Museum.
Just recapping details from https://stevereynolds.wixsite.com/website/post/the-anchors-from-the-joseph-h-scammell: -
In 1971, it took the use of ten 200L drums full of air for two divers from the Geelong Skindiving Club to raise this second anchor (2 ton), the largest of the three anchors : -
(Photo courtesy of Geoff Nayler)
That anchor is now on display on the foreshore near Point Danger: -
(Sources: https://www.torquayhistory.com/places/scammell-anchor/ and
The first anchor recovered, weighing ¾ of a ton, was said to be on display by the Torquay boat ramp (Fishermans Beach?), but Geoff says that it is actually at the Torquay Yacht Club (Torquay Sailing Club?). Four 200L drums were required to lift this anchor in 1970: -
(Photo courtesy of Geoff Nayler)
This third (6cwt?) anchor was earlier said to be in diver Geoff Nayler’s private collection, but he says that it is now in the Queenscliffe Maritime Museum: -
(Photo courtesy of Geoff Nayler)
As stated at https://stevereynolds.wixsite.com/website/post/the-anchors-from-the-joseph-h-scammell, I have been writing about this because I recently received an enquiry from a man at Torquay: -
“I live in Torquay Victoria and swim around the wreck area of the Joseph H Scammell most mornings now that my surfing days are over.
My question is something not mentioned. Where have these anchors been made/cast? Concisely…where was the main Scammell anchor now mounted on Torquay beach made?
It is good work that needs to be acknowledged.”
That brought me to research the topic, mostly using my three Victorian wreck books:
“Wrecks and Relics” by Geoff Nayler
“Shipwrecks along the Southern Coast” by GA (Geoff) Nayler
“Skindivers & Shipwrecks” by Doug Denmead
With a little help from the Internet, I found: -
The 3-masted, 1010-ton wooden Canadian ship Joseph H. Scammell was wrecked at Point Danger near Torquay, Victoria on 7th May 1891. Built in 1884, the ship was a pine-built clipper bound for Melbourne with a cargo of general merchandise from New York. The ship measured 67.97m X 11.948m X 7.7724m, with a registered tonnage of 1410.58.
According to https://www.torquayhistory.com/places/scammell-anchor/ , this second anchor was “towed back to the beach ramp, winched up and sent to Geelong to be sandblasted and treated.": -
(Photo courtesy of Geoff Nayler)
"After preservation was completed the anchor was returned to the foreshore and mounted with the plaque describing the fate of the Scammell.”
According to https://www.torquayhistory.com/brief-history-of-torquay/education/saving-the-scammell/ , “the anchor on the foreshore is pointing to the location of where the ship came to grief”.
According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_H._Scammell_(ship) , “Joseph H Scammell was built at Eatonville, a small village in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. …. in 1884 it was the centre of a large lumbering operation and a substantial shipyard. In 1884 the yard was run by the Scammell Brothers who named the ship after one of the family patriarchs. The ship was launched in September 1884 and registered at Saint John, New Brunswick, the nearest large port. She would sail under a Canadian flag for her entire career.”
This photo of the Joseph H. Scammell appears in each of the aforementioned books and online pages: -
The Joseph H. Scammell wrecked at Torquay in 1891
Here is Geoff Nayler’s map of the location of the Joseph H. Scammell wreck: -
(Source: “Shipwrecks along the Southern Coast” by GA (Geoff) Nayler)
Here is a photo of the plaque accompanying the anchor: -
“Joseph H. Scammell Shipwreck
Newly erected plaque (July 2005) telling the story of the Shipwreck.
Plaque erected by the GOR (Great Ocean Road) Coast Committee of Management”
(Source: https://www.pbase.com/torquay/image/47525446 )
I am still unable to answer that enquiry that I received at this stage. That enquiry again, was: -
"Where have these anchors been made/cast? Concisely…where was the main Scammell anchor now mounted on Torquay beach made?"
I can't say just where these anchors were made or cast. All that is known at this stage concerns the origin of the ship. According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_H._Scammell_(ship) , “Joseph H Scammell was built at Eatonville, a small village in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. …. in 1884 it was the centre of a large lumbering operation and a substantial shipyard. In 1884 the yard was run by the Scammell Brothers."
The question remains, what anchors would've been used by a ship built at Eatonville, in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia in 1884?
According to A Study of Port Adelaide’s Anchors: -
ANCHOR MATERIAL AND TESTING
According to the web page found at https://dieselship.com/marine-technical-articles/ship-safety-and-naval-architecture/ship-anchor-complete-information/ older anchors were made of cast iron and they were tested by dropping them on hard ground from a height of about 22.86 metres (75 feet). Only anchors that successfully survived this drop test were sent to their ship. Later drop tests involved dropping anchors from 4.6 metres (15 feet) “onto a steel slab laid out on a concrete foundation”.
Other than that, style and design of anchors is another matter.
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