Norwegian Whalers Page 1
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Norwegian Whalers Page 1 This album was put together by a New Zealand crew member of one of the Norwegian whaling expeditions in 1927. This particular compa- ny had established a ship repair yard in Paterson Inlet, where the chasers were left over the southern winter to be refurbished for the following summer whaling season in the Ross Sea. The mother ship (s) meanwhile having returned to Norway to discharge the catch and refit for the following season in Antarctica. The album was given by the author to Mr Murray Menzies in recogni- tion of “kindness given” and subsequently by the Watson Family to Peter Tait. Notes. The text is as written by the author. Some photos have notes on the back, and where possible I have melded this with the written text on each page. In a couple of instances and for clarity I have ap- plied minimum editing. The spelling is as written. In places of particular interest I have inserted an explanatory sidebar bordered in red. For Some background on the Rosshavet Whaling Company and it’s ships please look at pages 58-59 Norwegian Whalers Page 2 I assume that one of these men is the author of this album Norwegian Whalers Page 3 Some of the New Zealanders who sailed with the Sir James Clarke Ross, on the 1927 trip to the frozen south. These are mostly of maori blood from Bluff and Stewart Island. This snap was taken in Patersons Inlet the morning we sailed. Their work is chiefly trimming, some get jobs on the blubber or meat deck but most work in the coal, the storage tanks are full of bunker coal for the Ross and coal burning chasers and as the Ross burns up to 30 tons a day they are kept busy These lads are mainly maori from Bluff and Stewart Island. This was taken in Paterson Inlet the morning we sailed. Most work trimming coal bunkers. The storage tanks are full of coal for the Ross and the coal burning chasers and as the Ross burns up to 30 tons per day they are kept busy. Some get jobs on the blubber or meat deck. Norwegian Whalers Page 4 Icebergs are first encountered about a day south of the Campbells and are pretty dangerous as fogs are very thick about these waters at times. This makes travel very slow. The fleet steams in formation in fog, two chasers to port, two to starboard and one dead ahead. The whis- tles blow every two minutes. Eack chaser has it's own number of blasts and answers when called. A watch is also kept on the forepeak during these fogs. After leav- ing the Campbells going south it gets lighter every night, being light altogether once in the pack. Norwegian Whalers Page 5 This photo shows the stem of the Ross, taken from the Ice Pilots crows nest on the forward mast nearly 100 feet above the main deck. This crows nest is only used in the pack ice. The Ice Pilot is usually the 1st or 2nd mate, who has the pick- ing of the ships course. It is impossible to travel in a straight line, rather he has to follow cracks in the ice. He puts the bow into a crack and forces it open. The cracks are formed by ice bergs which travel much faster than the lighter floe. Once the ship is through the ice closes up again. Norwegian Whalers Page 6 In the middle of the pack ice the mothership is breaking the pack ice on her way south. We were a week in the ice when we received a wireless from the Larsen that there were plenty of whales outside the pack and so we turned around and went out again. We took 70 whales, 56 Blues, 11 Fins and 3 Humps which gave nearly 6000 barrels of oil. The same amount of whales later in the season would have given nearly 8000 barrels, as once in the Ross Sea where food is plentiful The Larsen referred to above was the companies second ship, the two work- ing together Norwegian Whalers Page 7 The five whale chasers in Pack Ice, 1927 Star 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 waiting for the mothership Sir James Clarke Ross to forge ahead. These stops are frequent once in the floes. The trouble being break- ing the ice which is anything between 2 and 12 feet thick. The mother ship is forever going forward and charging the ice. Sometimes she wedges herself fast then one of the stars will try and get her loose. If this fails men go over the side with big saws and cut out the blocks. This can only be done if the ice is less than 6 feet thick. Otherwise she must stay until the thaw starts. In 1926 the Ross was fast 37 days in one place Norwegian Whalers Page 8 Star 6 fast in the ice. She was trying to release the Ross which was fast when she charged and came high and dry on the Ice. It took three chasers and her own steam to pull her back into the water. It then went on with the good work again. It took the Ross 27 days to go through the pack ice on this trip and if it had not been for Captain Andersons daring charging the pack ice it would have taken much longer, as he released the Ross on several occasions when she was hard and fast Norwegian Whalers Page 9 Star 5 coming out of the pack ice into open water of the Ross Sea. This is where whaling starts in earnest. Each chaser is bun- kered, taking on full supplies of harpoons, bombs, ropes, water, tucker and rum and gin for the very cold weather and anything else they might require. They usually take enough food to last 10 days, but they are hardly away for more than 3 or 4 days. The boats have a crew of 11. Captain, Mate, 2 Engineers, 2 Firemen, 4 AB's and Cook. They stand 12 hour watches, but all hands on deck for whales, even the cook who stands by the winch. Norwegian Whalers Page 10 Star 1 This chaser is what is known as the scout boat. It does little or no whaling, standing by the mother ship in case of blows coming up. If this should happen then she makes fast to as many of the whales as she can pick up, turns her head to the sea and hangs on. When the chas- ers are fishing a good way from the mother ship, say when she is sheltering. then the scout goes out and brings the whales in they might have. As soon as the whales start to leave one place then this chaser follows and wirelesses the Ross. Norwegian Whalers Page 11 Bow of a whale chaser showing the harpoon gun and rope all ready-ness for the chase. This type of gun is the most common in the whaling business today. It will swing any given way and shoot up to 40 fathoms. But the gunner does not shoot at anything like that distance for late in the season it is possible to get very close to them as they are very fat, giving nearly dou- ble the quantity of oil as when first they come out of the ice. They make about 8 knots when feeding so are easily overtaken by the speedy chasers which make 14 to 15 knots. Norwegian Whalers Page 12 For an explanation of the development of on deck pro- cessing please go to page 59 This slipway was fitted to the Ross, but proved to be a failure. It cost $25000 and carried away under the weight of a large Blue Whale as can be seen in a later photo. However the weather was that good that season the flensers were able to work in the water. The Ross taking a full ship of whale oil, 50000 bar- rels, worth around 250,000 pounds. The Fin Whales are not as plentiful as the Blue Whales but a goodly num- ber are taken later in the season. They are usually taken in male and fe- male pairs and when one is taken the other won't leave. They run up to 75 feet in length, giving a paying quantity of oil. This is a fin whale on the slip. Norwegian Whalers Page 13 Blue Whale on Slipway This slipway was fitted to the Ross to enable her to work the whales in rough weather and save time in always having to run for shelter. But needless to say it was useless, giving way under the first blue whale here seen. Being an engineer myself I must say I had some faith in the thing when others shook their heads, as one would have thought whoever designed and built it would have worked out the stresses and strain. When tried I doubt whether it would have carried a hump which is only about 35 tons Norwegian Whalers Page 14 The arm of the slip can be seen badly bent and the wire broken, the whole arm and stays gave way in the endand are lying some- where at the bottom of the Ross Sea. The blocks seen were used to pull slip clear of the water while steaming. The up to date slips are filled either to the bow or the stern and are a large tunnel 20 ft or so in diameter.