| The wreck of the "Joseph Craig"- 7 August 1914 |
Updated: 15 March 2019
Website Owner: Dr. Kenneth M. Baker
info(at)ourhokianga.com
Website Owner: Dr. Kenneth M. Baker
info(at)ourhokianga.com
| Extract from the Memoirs of Captain Doug Bull, Mate on the barque "Joseph Craig" at the time of the wreck on 7th August 1914 “The wind was blowing fresh from the SW as we loosened and set sail from the river. We had only gone halfway through the bar area with breakers on either side when the tow line parted and we commenced drifting towards the bar. Anchors were dropped but she was in a hopeless position and shortly afterwards she bumped heavily on the hard sand. Meantime the tug was in trouble with the towline round her propeller and could not assist us. Each succeeding sea lifted the ship and bumped her hard down on the sand. Soon the upper masts came down, seas were breaking over all, and the life-boat was stove in. The gig was still intact and Captain Airey decided to abandon ship when the tide was suitable. The pilot station advised by signal to leave about 3 pm so an hour before that time oil was cast overboard to knock the breakers off the seas between us and the beach. At 3 pm the gig was launched with all hands (17) wearing life jackets, and got her through the surf safely, with the help of a number of Maoris who had waded up to their necks to steady us in. We came ashore in underclothes mostly, very cold and miserable. The pilot was there with welcome draughts of brandy, then a walk to the beach inside the entrance where a launch took us to the local hostelry where we were dried out, fed and slept that night. A gale blew during the night and we all journeyed to the beach in the morning, found the ship broken up in sections. The bow part was still anchored where they had been dropped and that section was still afloat because the collision bulkhead was intact. Timber and gear was strewn along the beach for miles, all criss-crossed and a terrible mess. We lost everything except that I had put Father’s sextant in the boat before launching, unbeknown to others because we were instructed to take nothing but ourselves, and I found out later on that one of the A.B.s had done exactly the same thing with his father’s sextant. We were all sent to Auckland where we got our discharge from the ship and presented with an order of £3.0.0 from the Shipwreck Society to buy some clothes. With this and the money due to me from the Joseph, I got some duds sufficient to set me on my feet once more and to look for another job.” |
| Looking over the beach and out to the ship "Joseph Craig" which is stranded at the Hokianga bar. Some figures are silhouetted on the beach. Taken on 7 August 1914 by James Hutchings Kinnear. Source: Alexander Turnbull Library Reference Number: 1/2-017198-G |
| Artists impression (artist unknown) of the "Joseph Craig" at sea. Source: Collection of the HHS Museum and Archives and the WESanders Archives (William Edward Sanders, VC, DSO, RNR 1883-1917) |
Mrs Ngaire Tatnell of Melbourne, the daughter of Captain Doug Bull, the the Mate of the “Joseph Craig”, the ship
(barque) wrecked on the rocks at Niua, the North Head of the Hokianga Harbour on the 7th August 1914, recently wrote
to the Society. Mrs Tatnell sent an extract of Captain Bull’s memoirs which he had dictated and relating the wreck of the
Joseph Craig which we had promised to distribute. We reproduce the extract here for those interested in the history of
the Hokianga and shipping.
(barque) wrecked on the rocks at Niua, the North Head of the Hokianga Harbour on the 7th August 1914, recently wrote
to the Society. Mrs Tatnell sent an extract of Captain Bull’s memoirs which he had dictated and relating the wreck of the
Joseph Craig which we had promised to distribute. We reproduce the extract here for those interested in the history of
the Hokianga and shipping.
| Further notes: The “Joseph Craig’ was on her third trip loading timber in Hokianga for Australian ports, her first under new owners Huddart Parker Ltd. She had entered in ballast on 19th July and been cleared to leave with her load of timber on 7th August, 1914. She was an iron vessel of 714 tons gross, with a reputation as a fast sailer. J.J. Craig of Auckland had owned her only since 1908, naming her after one of the family as all ships of their line had been. She had been built in Glasgow in 1878 as the ‘Dunblane’. 1914 was an eventful year for the “Joseph Craig” as she had also hit the “Rough Rock” and gone aground in the Rangitoto channel at Auckland in June of that year. Captain Bull went on to hold senior marine positions in Tasmania .The sextant now resides in the Hobart Maritime Museum which also contains several interview tapes made by Captain Bull. The “hostelry” mentioned was almost certainly the Bryers boarding house at Omapere which is now the Copthorne Hotel. The HHS Society Museum and Archives Centre holds copies of newspapers of the time relating the story of the wreck and also of the subsequent inquiry. compiled by Alexa & Owen Whaley and Ken Baker |
| Hokianga History and Memorabilia |