Our maritime history & present day news. No. 52 Spring (September) 2015. $2.50 where sold. Photos: National Archives of Australia This issue features our lighthouses and the people associated with them by Mike Webb Maritime Museum of Tasmania email: [email protected] from the president’s log CARNEGIE BUILDING www.maritimetas.org Cnr Davey & Argyle Sts. Open Daily 9am–5pm The theme for this edition is lighthouses. When I first went to sea light on. It was a beautiful sunset with clear visibility from a 1,000 Hobart, Tasmania (except for Good Friday & Christmas Day) after spending a year at a pre-sea training college as a cadet, the feet, the highest lighthouse in the southern hemisphere. Please, do Postal Address: GPO Box 1118, Layout & production: significance of such navigation aids was well drummed into us. On not switch our lighthouses off. Hobart, Tasmania 7001, AUSTRALIA Ricoh Studio my first deep-sea voyage we sailed from Newport, Monmouthshire Phone: (03) 6234 1427 We have received a one-third scale model of an open boat, donated Phone: 6210 1200 for the River Plate. I was on the first mate’s watch. As we drove into Fax: (03) 6234 1419 through the Cultural Gifts Programme by a donor in New South [email protected] a westerly storm on an Empire ship under steam power, I was in the Wales. We thank Gerald Latham for his generous assistance with dark lookout on the monkey island. We were in sight of Bull’s Point covering the costs of transporting the model to Hobart. light. Noticing that the frequency of the flashing of the light was the same on the third night I was beginning to wonder why and, if we I have written a lot over the past year about our hopes for the Carn- were going full ahead, if it was a different light. The mate explained egie Gallery. A tenderer has been offered the contract for the instal- we were still in the same place and not making any headway due to lation of the lift by the Hobart City Council. We are now preparing the weather. He also pointed out that all the lights, a considerable for the Maritime Museum’s expansion. Our own light looks set to distance apart from each other, had different characteristics. shine brightly into the future. In those days it was always very comforting at night to spot the loom of a lighthouse after a long passage to know we were mak- in this issue ing a landfall. One was, in the back of one’s mind, thankful for the lighthouse keepers, many of whom were isolated from civilisation • Table Cape Lighthouse but maintained the light. From a navigational aspect they were im- • Tasman Island Lighthouse portant beacons to fix our position by night and day. In some parts • The Secret Lives of Lighthouse Keepers of the world, when we were close to the coast in bad weather, often unable to obtain sights for a couple of days, and unsure of our exact • Tasmania’s unique lighthouse history position, the lights were a guiding friend. • Goose Island Lighthouse Tragedy We read about the Cape Wickham light, on the northern end of King • Captain Joseph Creese Island, being sighted by sailing ships coming from the west, and of- • Celebrating the builders ten being mistaken for the Cape Otway light. This could result in • Lighthouses - Memories either the vessel passing on the wrong side and being wrecked on • Book Review: ‘Ice in the Rigging’ King Island, or a near miss from a lee shore. This could happen in bad plus news and regular features weather in heavy rain showers when the light is not properly visible, or when the ship did not carry proper large scale charts or have up- and for an overview of tasmanian lighthouses, to-date light lists. Nowadays, we have facilities to gain information go to http://www.lighthouses.org.au/lights/TAS/ index%20tas.asp click on map at right. instantly. Then, chart corrections and changes to the light lists could be many months, if not a year, old. During the first Three Peaks Race the Australian Maritime College provided a manned radio communications caravan. It was along- Membership Fees side Cape Tourville Lighthouse on the East Coast. Due to the great Categories of membership and annual fees effective influx of visitors to Coles Bay the power to the light failed come sun- each year 1 July to 30 June (including GST) set and the emergency generator failed to cut in. We reported this to Canberra and immediately a notice to mariners was broadcasted by Individual $30 the coastal radio stations. The fleet of boats were coming down the coast. GPS only had six satellites launched at that time so position Family $40 Tasman Island Lighthouse plans Image: AMSA, supplied by Erika Shankley fixing by that system was spasmodic. One could imagine the skip- Concessions: $20 pers being concerned, not knowing if they were offshore enough to avoid the Nuggets just below the light. Now with fully-fledged Interstate $20 MaritiMe tiMes of tasMania welcoMes original articles for publication GPS receivers the light is a comfort to verify their position, but is not Overseas $20 necessary for well-equipped vessels. Maatsuyker and Deal Island Contributions may be historical or newsworthy Ideally contributions will be in a Word Please submit contributions to The Editor Lighthouses are welcomed by fishermen and yachtsmen. Their light Quarterdeck $25 plus $275 donation and with themes reflecting the Museum’s document, with embedded images and/or at the postal address above or email is not only a navigation mark but a sign also that volunteers are at mission to promote research into and with separate 300dpi JPEG or TIFF files. We can [email protected] Perennial $1000 hand if something goes wrong with their own boat. interpretation of Tasmania’s maritime heritage. accept legible handwritten articles, with loose Alternatively you can leave your contribution Once only, or 4 years Quarterdeck membership. They may be short notes, or articles with text photographs, which we will copy. at the front desk of the Museum at the street I often took the Training Ship Wyuna to Deal Island and anchored in about 700 -1200 words, accompanied by Images should have a caption, be credited to address above. Please remember to include the bay at the end of a working day. We got to know the chief light- images if possible. Text may be edited and the photographer or to the source, and have your contact details. house keeper and his wife well. One evening the Chief Engineer publication is at the discretion of the editor. written permission to publish. Deadline for the next edition is 16 November 2015. from the ship and I took the 4WD up to the light. The Chief started the generator and I drew the surrounding curtains and switched the 2 | Maritime Times of Tasmania Spring 2015 Maritime Times of Tasmania Spring 2015 | 3 by Paul and Indigo Wheeler from the brig TABLE CAPE LIGHTHOUSE The 1st July this year marked the centenary of national At some point they all decided to swap caps and electrician’s mate management of lighthouses and other aids to navigation in Ray Silvia obtained Roger’s cap. Ray was serving on the USS Chipola A beacon for human achievement in a wild and beautiful place Australian waters. Lighthouses feature strongly in this edition and at the time. This was a fleet oiler that had previously seen service in we thank all our contributors. Lighthouses and shipwrecks hold the Second World War. Roger served with the RAN for seven years a deep fascination for many visitors to the Museum, particularly and quickly forgot about the cap. school children, and we are fortunate to have many objects within Fast forward to the present. Roger’s cap was discovered by Robert our collection to tell Tasmanian stories. While today’s navigation Musker of Boston, Massachusetts who found it in his basement. Mr technology places less emphasis on the iconic lighthouse towers Musker was a relative of Ray Silvia. Mr Musker decided to find the of the nineteenth century, those buildings remain an important cap’s owner, as it had Roger’s name stamped inside. He searched part of our maritime heritage with many dedicated volunteers online for an Australian official who may be able to help him locate battling to provide upkeep and maintenance and to keep them in the cap’s owner. He eventually made contact with the Office of the the public eye. Deputy Prime Minister, Hon Warren Truss MP to whom he sent the The 31st August this year marked another centenary, with the cap. After an extensive search by staff in Mr Truss’s office, and the Mission to Seafarers achieving 100 years of service to seafarers realisation that the middle initial inside the cap was a J not an L in Hobart. The Hobart Mission was the 105th to be established as previously thought, the Office was eventually able to locate the worldwide and the sixth in Australia. While the industry the owner – Roger Dewar of Howrah. Mission serves has changed out of all recognition over that time, The hand-over ceremony was conducted on 4 September 2015 at the needs of seafarers have remained constant. An average of over the Maritime Museum. It was attended by Senator Eric Abetz and 4,000 seafarers a year have made use of the facilities and services LCDR John Kennedy RAN. Senator Abetz said he was honoured offered by the Mission during its first century, and, with the to be able to help return the cap to its original owner.