More information : Wreck Site and Archaeological Remains:
Method of Fix: D
Horizontal Datum: OGB (1)
22-APR-60: Sonar contact in posiiton 49 51 00N 05 16 18W. Length 320ft, height 60ft, orientation 129/309 degrees. 202 degrees, 7.2miles, from Lizard Head. Depth over wreck 46fms. Height above seabed 51ft. Buoys established for salvage.
05-MAY-60: Good sonar contact in position 49 51 00N 05 16 30W. Length 320ft, height 60ft.
22-JUN-76: Least depth 240ft at low water.
18-OCT-76: BALLARAT reported 202degs 7.2miles from Lizard Head and to be 34ft high. (Risdon Beazley List 1, 17-SEP-76 and 15-OCT-76, surveyed in 1954.)
29-MAR-85: Confirmed as BALLARAT - bell recovered. Salvage of lead and copper ingots being undertaken by MV DRIVER PROTECTOR. Wreck reported previously heavily salvaged. Munitions reported in midship section. (Receiver of Wreck, Falmouth). (1)(11)(12)
15-SEP-2004: Examined in 49 50.820N 005 16.654W. Least multibeam depth 73.9m in general depth 82.9m. No scour. Length 156m, width 35m, height 9m. Lies 040/220 degrees. Strong magnetic anomaly. Intact, degraded, upright with salvage debris close by, debris extending 70m either side. (11)(12)
16-APR-2005. Bow broken off aft of forecastle, then breaks down to seabed in area of obvious salvage, lying over to port side. Midships intact, although superstructure broken down; teak decks obvious. Despite extensive damage, wreck remains obvious and intact in sections. (11)(12)
Seen to be located approximately 7.17 nautical miles SW of the Lizard. (11)
A porthole recovered from this wreck, position 49 54.10N 005 19.00W. (Droit A/4083) (6)
A porthole recovered from this wreck, position 49 51.45N 005 19.00W. (Droit A/4145) (6)
A china plate, 20 cm in diameter, with "P&O Brand Service" crest on the edge and a cina plate, 24cm in diameter, with a crazed glaze, recovered from the BALLARAT, 7 miles SW of Lizard Point. (Droit 254/04) (7)
An unmarked bell; a plate; and a porthole, recovered from the BALLARAT in position 49 50.90N 005 16.361W. (Droit 304/04) (7)
A pewter jug with small holes; a plated jug with "TW & S" stamped on the base and a broken handle; a plated bowl with two handles and "Baker Brothers" stamped on the base; 2 plated condiment racks; a plated shell pattern presentation tray with a handle, none of which are hallmarked, and are therefore thought to be probably nickel rather than silver, recovered from the BALLARAT in WGS 84 position 49 50.820N 005 16.654W. (Droit 208/05) (10)
A brass porthole, twisted, lacking glass, recovered from the BALLARAT SW of the Lizard. (Droit 231/05) (10)
Wreck Event and Documentary Evidence:
Background History:
Dimensions: 11,120 tons gross, 7,055 net; 13,881 deadweight; 500ft 2in x 62ft 9in x 31ft 8in.
Passenger liner launched in September 1911, for the UK/Australia emigrant service, as one of the ships ordered for P&O's acquisition of the Blue Anchor Line. This became P&O's Branch Line with ships' names beginning with B.
In 1914 her role was as an Indian transport but by August 1915 she was carrying Australian troops.
On her final voyage she is said to have been sailing as HM AMBULANCE TRANSPORT A70. (14)
Primary Sources:
Torpedoed and sunk by German submarine in position 49 33N 005 36W, en route Melbourne for London with copper, bullion, antimony ore, troops, and general. (3)
SS BALLARAT, 11,190 tons, torpedoed without warning by submarine and sunk, after leaving Melbourne on 22.3.1917 for Plymouth with 9000 tons of general cargo, 140 crew, and 1620 passengers. (13)
Whilst under escort in convoy, steaming at 10.5 knots, was torpedoed aft and her starboard propeller blown off by the German submarine UB-32, at 2pm on April 25, when 24 miles south by west from the Wolf Rock. At no stage was the submarine sighted. Her crew and troops left the ship in their own boats, and were taken on board various HM ships and patrol vessels, landing at Plymouth. The BALLARAT was then taken in tow by tugs but sank at 4.30am. Confidential papers and code books were burnt by the master before the vessel sank. (2)(8), based on (13).
NB: Sources (2) and (8) appear to conflate the copper and bullion into copper ingots, but in sources (3) and (4) these appear as separate items of cargo.
09-MAR-1917: Torpedoed 24 miles S by W from Wolf Rock. (5)
Torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic 24 miles S by W from Wolf Rock in position 49 33N 005.36W by the German submarine UB-32 whilst on a voyage from Melbourne and Cape Town with general cargo including copper, antimony ore, and bullion. (4)
The story of the BALLARAT was told in the Times, reported some time after the actual event. "The story of the BALLARAT is one of the most stirring tales of fortitude which could be told even of the Australians."
The passengers were specified as 1,400 troops, "practically all reinforcements from Victoria for the 2nd and 4th Australian Brigades. Throughout the voyage the colonel of the Victorian Scottish, who was in command of the troops, put them frequently through boat-station drill until they had reduced the time required for assembling at their proper stations to four minutes."
The men were mustering just after 2pm for an Anzac Day service at 2.30 when "a torpedo was seen moving towards the ship on the port side."
"The look-out by the gun in the stern telephoned to the bridge. The great vessel swung round quickly. Another two seconds, and she would have escaped, but a dull thud followed by a rending sound told that the torpedo had struck home, and the ship began rapidly to settle down by the stern. It was soon discovered that the torpedo had torn off one propeller, leaving a gaping hole, while the smashing of the deck had left the gunners helpless. They had swung the gun round towards the direction from which the torpedo came, but none of them saw the submarine. A few of the soldiers say they saw the periscope about 500 yards away, though nothing was seen of it from the bridge."
An account follows of the evacuation, stating that the men were able to muster inside four minutes and were already wearing their lifebelts which they had been "under orders" to wear continuously. Nine boats were lowered but the engineer then reported that "the ship was able to go ahead with the remaining damaged propeller", so the boats were recalled and the men re-embarked. Volunteers, including "the whole of a railway unit" went forward to man the stokehold, but "the water gained rapidly and the ship was sinking steadily, the engine-room being already flooded. The troops accordingly reformed stations. Three destroyers and two trawlers had come at top speed to the scene, and it was arranged that they should take the men aboard."
The article highlights that "a few hospital cases were in pyjamas" and the "conspicuous courage" of the two nursing sisters, "who had been great favourites with the troops", who assisted the three chaplains to fasten their lifebelts. "Hundreds of the men were allowed to take photographs of the sinking ship and the final parade, but the officers would not allow them to go below. The ship sank some time after midnight.
The article concludes with a paragraph thus: "One of the first acts of the men after they arrived in camp was to send representatives to London to get a souvenir of the event printed in the form of the last number of the "Ballarat Beacon", which was being distributed when the ship was torpedoed.
"The men are all well, and none the worse for their adventure." (15)
Hector Creswick, 15 Company, Australian Railway Operating Division, gave an account, now published on Australians at War, of the loss of the BALLARAT. He said "Well now I will give yo an idea of what it is like being hit with a Tinned Fish". He recounted the rapidity of the ship's sinking in the first 20 minutes, and stated that he could see the submarine "quite plain" as the escorting destroyer gave chase. He described how the men were "like a lot of rats crowded high up on the bow of the boat, as it was getting higher every minute on account of sinking at the stern". (16)
Photograph of troops disembarking the sinking ship. (17)
Secondary Sources:
The troopship BALLARAT, taken over from P&O, was approaching the entrance to the Channel, when she was torpedoed by a German submarine. Including troops, who were all reinforcements from Victoria for the 2nd and 4th Australian Brigades, there were about 1750 persons on board at the time. The men were on parade for a memorial service for Anzac Day, when at 2.05pm the ship was struck by a torpedo, destroying a propeller and a 6in gun, breaking the main steam pipe and blowing in the aft watertight bulkhead.
The BALLARAT immediately began to sink, but the men had been repeatedly given boat drill, and discipline was maintained, so they went to their places without loss of life. All the troops and crew were taken off either by their own boats or by the escorting ships. The captain of the BALLARAT, Cdr. G W Cockman, RNR, DSO, was congratulated by the Admiralty on the successful evacuation, with the Australian troops being congratulated by the then King, George V. (9)
Despite 50 lookouts on each side and an escort by HM Torpedo Boat Destroyer PHOENIX, the torpedo, which struck the starboard screw and flooded the engine room, was not seen before impact.
She was taken in tow by a destroyer and HM Drifter MIDGE, but sank in 44 fathoms 8.5 miles off the Lizard, the next day.
In 1917 P&O received £420,000 for the loss of BALLARAT. (14)
Built: 1911 (2)(4)(8)(9)(14)
Builder: Caird and Co. (2)(8)(9)(14)
Where Built: Greenock (2)(8)(14)
HP: 1200 (2)(8); 9000 (9)
Propulsion: Screw-driven, 8-cylinder quadruple-expansion engine (2)(8)(9); twin screw, 2 x 4-cylinder quadruple-expansion engines (14)
Armament: 1 x 6ins. Q.F. (2)(8)(13); 6 in guns [number not specified but plural] (9)
Master: F W A Hansen (2)(8); Cdr G W Cockman, RNR, DSO (9)
Crew: 140 (2)(8)(13)
Passengers: 1620 (2)(8)(13)
On board: 1750 (9)
Owner: P & O Steam Navigation Co. (2)(8)(9)(13); P & O Branch Service (4); originally P&O Branch Line (14)
Date of Loss Qualifier: Actual date of loss
Additional sources cited in Shipwreck Index of the British Isles:
LR.1916 No.88(B); Sea Breezes, April 1964 p289 |