The Falls of Halladale (1886-1908)

The Falls of Halladale had a reputation for running overdue and was frequently reported "missing" at sea. The longest and most arduous of the ships journeys was from liverpool to San Francisco in 1903.

The captain intended to take the vessel around Cape Horn but fierce winds and mountainous seas forced a change of course around much longer"great circle route".

By the time the ship reached New Zealand, the exhausted crew mutinied and forced the ship to anchor in Foveaux Strait for several days.

Finally with the mutineers in irons, the Falls of Halladale limped into San Francisco just 273 days after it left Liverpool.

When the Falls of Halladale wrecked at Curdies Inlet near Peterborough, cargo of thousands of slate tiles sank with it.

Twenty-two thousand were recovered in legal salvage between 1974 and 1986. The tiles can be seen today at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village where they have been used as roofing tiles on eight of the restored buildings.

Ships Construction

In its 23 years of operation, the Falls of Halladale sailed the world trade routes through the "roaring forties" and "howling fifties" and was capable of making 300 nautical miles in 24 hours.

The vessel measured 275.2ft (83.8m) in length, 41.6ft (12.6m) in breadth, 23.9ft (7.2m) in depth and had a gross tonnage of 2085 tons.

The Final Voyage of the Falls of Hallandale

Valued at $35,000, it included 500 sewing machines, plumbing iron, 6,500 gallons of oil, 14,400 gallons of benzine, glassware and 56,763 beautiful American slate tiles.

The Falls of Halladale was making good time as it neared the southern Victorian coastline in the early hours of Saturday 13th November. The sea was calm and the weather fine.

A mist hung over the sea creating an illusionary horizon. This confused the Captain who calculated the ships position as 15 kilometres from the coast.

As the fog lifted, the crew and Capatin of the Falls of Halladale found themselves with full sails set and billowing and only a few hundred metres from the shore heading straight for the rocks.

The call "land close to the lee bow" was screamed but it was too late. Within two minutes the ship struck a submerged reef. An eye witness said, "the ship seemed to leap from the water. In falling it seemed to jam hard and fast on the rocks".

As the water broke over the deck, the ship began to fill with water. The order "save your lives" was given and two lifeboats were hoisted clear of the ship.

The lifeboats could not land directly on shore at the wreck site but instead were rowed four and half miles to a sandy beach in the Bay of Islands.

The stranding of the Falls of Halladale was witnessed by the post-mistress at Peterborough.

She had been issued with a telescope by the government for sighting vessels in distress and was able to raise the alarm among the townsfolk.

A small group set out for the Bay of Islands to help the stranded sailors. The rocket crew arrived from Port Campbell but were not needed as the crew and captain had all made it safely to shore.

The Falls of Halladale sat wedged firmly between two reefs for weeks and drew a large crowd on onlookers.

One newspaper reported, "she is resting on an almost even keel with all her masts and rigging standing and with her canvas swelling out in a light breeze. She presents a most impressive sight".

After two months the ship was wrecked. Rough seas had pounded the vessel and the salvage company has blasted the ship.

Much of the valuable cargo was washed ashore including a large quantity of oil causing one of Victoria's earliest oil spills.

Captain Thompson was found guilt by the Court of Marine Inquiry of gross misconduct and has his certificate suspended for six months.

Check this wreck on the Shipwreck Map

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