WRECK OF THE TYRONE.
ON THE ROCKS AT OTAGO HEADS.
On Saturday morning a little after 4 o'clock the s.s. Tyrone went ashore at Wahine point about a mile and a half south of Otago Heads. The Tyrone — once known as Drayton Grange and used as a troop ship at the time of the Boer war — left Lyttelton on Friday on her journey south and owing to a heavy fog could not see her way in to the Heads. The crew, with most of their baggage, were brought ashore safely during the afternoon with only one accident by which the purser, R. D. Aubrey was badly crushed and had two ribs broken, five of the rescued men, strange to say, were also part of the crew of the Devon, recently wrecked at Wellington Heads. The Tyrone (6664 tons) is far and away the biggest vessel that has come ashore in Otago waters. It is generally admitted that there is no chance of saving the vessel and it is now only a question of how much of her cargo can be salvaged. From her position this must prove a difficult and expensive operation. -Dunstan Times, 29/9/1913.
S.S. TYRONE
SURVEY PARTY.
GONE TO INVESTIGATE.
The position of the Tyrone was nowise altered to-day from that of Saturday afternoon and yesterday. The wind was light, and had shifted a' little to the wets-ward, but that was all in the vessel's favor.
The underwriters' agents despatched a survey party this forenoon to ascertain what prospects, if any, there are of salvaging ship or cargo. This party consist of Captain McLachlan (the master of the Tyrone), Mr A. Morrison (Lloyd's surveyor), Mr A. McIntyre (naval architect and superintendent of the Union Company's ship-repairing works at Port Chalmers), and Mr R. Miller (manager of the firm of Miller Bros., well known for diving and other work in connection with the salvaging of damaged vessels). This party, accompanied by Captain J. King (assistant superintendent of the Union Steam Ship Company) two or three other gentlemen, left Port Chalmers in one of the Union Company's motor launches about half-past 11 o'clock. It is understood that these experts will examine the vessel carefully, and then report as to any likelihood of salvage.
Generally speaking, the prospects of salvaging the ship are extremely vague, and the hope of saving much of her 1,800 tons of cargo is not bright. The forward end of the ship is in the worst plight, and it seems pretty certain, from observing the broken water abreast of No. 3 hatch, that her bottom is badly pierced in the vicinity of that hatch. The vessel has a double bottom throughout, but as the effect of the water rushing into No. 3 hold visibly affected the vessel's horizontal position, the assumption is that the inner skin of the double bottom was pierced as well as the outside plates. In order to get the vessel off it would first be necessary to remove the pinnacle of rock projecting through the hull. Even if there is no such impaling pinnacle, the vessel was piled up on the rocks by the heavy rollers to a greater extent than if she had merely floated into her present position. Could the hole in her bottom be repaired the submerged cargo would have first to be removed, in order to let the diver get to work to do the patching. It has been said that salvage would be a more practical proposition than it is at present if the vessel could be cut in halves, just forward of the bridge, as was done in the case of more than one wrecked vessel in the Old Country. Ship salvaging is an art, however, and all the artists of that persuasion are said to reside in Great Britain. In the Tyrone's case it is not improbable that the action of the sea will halve her forward of the bridge, and it would not be surprising if the survey party who went down to-day to investigate find that indications are already discernible of the vessel being severely strained in the way and in the position indicated.
A watch is being kept at the Tyrone so that no unauthorised person may board the vessel. -Evening Star, 29/9/1913.
S.S. TYRONE.
OFFERS are invited, to close at noon on FRIDAY, 10th instant, for salvage of material, etc., remaining on board, at percentage of the net realised, proceeds of such salvage based on Lloyds' “no cure no pay" agreement, also of the cargo at present on board the vessel on similar terms. The following equipment and gear is above water line and readily saleable: — Two dynamos, new; about 500 tons of coal, more or less; 10 cargo winches; 11 cargo derricks, anchors, cables, windlass, two pianos, saloon and steerage cabin fittings, spare propeller blades, blocks large quantity copper piping and brasses, boats and davits, and much other valuable gear, including stewards’ and deck stores, valuable cargo consisting of motor chassis, case and bulk whisky, paints, oils and other valuable merchandise which is stowed in the ’tween docks. All are dry and readily got at. All salvage to be landed on wharf or wharves as directed at Dunedin. Offers to be made in writing to the undersigned, who will furnish further particulars as required.
G. L. DENNISTON,
Lloyds’ Agent, Dunedin. -NZ Times, 8/10/1913.
NEW ZEALAND NEWS.
(By Telegraph. — Press Association.)
ON S.S. TYRONE.
SOME SUCCESSFUL WORK.
Dunedin, October 27. Diver Millar and his assistants have been very successful with salvage operations in connection with the Tyrone during the past couple of days, cargo of an estimated value of about £1600 having been taken out and dispatched to Port Chalmers. The cargo brought into port to-day included raw and boiled linseed oil, white lead, putty, sheep dip, whisky, and other commodities, all apparently as good as on the day it was shipped. Further operations are being pushed along, and, given a reasonable share of favourable weather, it is probable that practically the whole of the cargo will be salvaged. The rumour that a small portion of the cargo had been salvaged by unauthorised persons is warmly resented by those in charge of operations, while the increasing vigilance of the Customs and police officials stationed on the shore at the scene of the wreck makes any such attempt extremely hazardous. -Dominion, 28/10/1913.
Tyrone’s last voyage
Contributed by
BADEN NORRIS
on behalf
of the Canterbury Museum
(portion missing) by God, and convinced be had plenty of sea room, the master slowed speed and decided to anchor and await events. But before the anchor could be dropped, the ship eased to a halt on a sandy bottom. Believing he was on the Spit, the captain ordered full astern. The ship remained firmly stuck.
An odd decision then to try full steam ahead only compounded the problem. That seems to be the most serious error of judgment of a whole chapter of errors.
Help was sent from Dunedin in the form of the tug Plucky when the Tyrone’s plight was known. As the fog cleared the ship was revealed on Wahine Point, Otago Peninsula and only a few yards from the steep cliffs.
A strong tide, a misread mileage on the chart, and a correct log reading which was mistrusted, had combined to destroy the ship. She had finally settled so close to the cliffs after being towed a few hundred yards by the tug before striking rocks, that the 70 crew members could bridge the gap from the ship to the shore with a 20-foot ladder. Divers examined the hull and reported two large holes — one as big as a motor car and the other with a 7ft high rock poking through. Tyrone was declared a total loss — the largest ship to be wrecked on the coast of the South Island.
Interest in salvaging the cargo was intense for among the cases of paint, general goods, and pig iron there were several thousand cases of whisky. The insurance loss for ship and cargo was put at £140,000 and tenders for the salvage rights were called. The successful tenderer was a Port Chalmers syndicate which used the old Maori name for that area, Koputai.
Alert Customs Officers examined any returning launch from the area of the wreck, ever mindful of the lure of the cases of whisky. The salvage terms were on the traditional “no cure, no pay” basis, the salvors getting two-thirds of the value of all goods and fittings recovered.
Using the hulk Matariki as a store ship, they discharged 1880 cases of whisky, 18 octaves of what the Otago Daily Times referred to as “stimulating liquid,” and many galvanised 400 gallon tanks containing cocoa, cornflour, clover, and crockery, all in perfect condition.
It is not generally known that the water tanks so familiar on farms and around country houses years ago were, in fact, containers for cargo. Who said that the concept of containerisation was new?
The salvors lamented the “salvage” of many cases of spirits by persons unknown. Some Otago fishermen lost their enthusiasm for fishing for several days; they were suffering, it was said, from “Tyrone Flu.” The ship soon broke up and eventually disappeared, leaving a gap in the British Mercantile Marine which was sorely felt a year later when war was declared.
In the Canterbury Museum's Hall of Shipping, recently opened to the public, a silver plated meat dish from the saloon of the Tyrone is fittingly displayed among the many other nautical treasures. It is on loan from Mr Babar Papp and serves as the museum’s only link with the ship. -Press, 11/11/1978.
The exact cause of the "Tyrone flu" seems ambiguous and could be one of two things. A hangover, of course, is the obvious cause but there could also be the lack of sleep caused by the unauthorised nocturnal salvage of the Tyrone's cargo.
Some years later, a similar event occurred on the other side of the world. A cargo ship, the SS Politician, ran aground off the Scottish island of Eriskay in 1941 with 22,000 cases of whisky aboard. Wartime rationing and increase on customs duty made the cargo a tempting resources to "rescue from the sea." Cases of bottles were hidden all over the island and some were "rescued" by observant islanders who had noted where cases had been buried or hidden in caves.
The authorities searched islanders' homes and several arrests and convictions resulted. The author Compton MacKenzie fictionalised the story and "Whisky Galore!" was made into a movie in 1949. Finds of hidden bottles were still being found in the late 20th century.
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