SS Georgette
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SS Georgette
| |
History | |
---|---|
Launched | 1872 |
Fate | Sank 1876 |
General characteristics | |
Tonnage | |
Length | 46.2 m (152 ft) |
Beam | 6.9 m (23 ft) |
Draft | 3.4 m (11 ft) |
Propulsion |
|
SS Georgette was a steamship built in 1872. She is best known, especially in Irish-American circles, for the part played in the story of the Catalpa rescue in April 1876. While the events surrounding her shipwrecking eight months later are dramatic and did capture the imagination of the local press, the ship itself had little effect on the coastal trade. Though heralding the way forward in the change from sail to steam on the long Western Australian coast, like its predecessor SS Xantho, Georgette had a short and ill-starred career and sank soon after its arrival there.
History
Georgette was built in 1872 at
While still nearly new, Georgette was sold in
Catalpa incident
In April 1876, the
Loss
On 29 November 1876, Georgette left Fremantle on what would be her last voyage. She was carrying fifty passengers and a cargo of
Georgette continued to drift until she drifted into the surf at
Grace Bussell's role in the rescue was widely and enthusiastically reported, with newspapers around the world picking up the story. Bussell was touted as "Western Australia's Grace Darling", and was awarded the Royal Humane Society's silver medal. Isaacs received a bronze and was granted 100 acres (40 ha) of land by the Western Australian government, becoming the first Aboriginal person to receive a land grant in Western Australia.[3] Godfrey, on the other hand, received much of the blame for the shipwreck. He was found not guilty on five counts of negligence, but his captain's certificate was still revoked. Godfrey managed to somehow regain his certificate in the two years following the sinking and became captain of the brig Laughing Wave. He committed suicide before daylight on 3 May 1882, by jumping overboard when the brig was off the North-west Cape.[4]
Georgette's hull was sold for £40. Today the wreck lies in five metres of water, about 90 metres off Redgate Beach. The site is protected under the Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976.
One of the survivors of the sinking was future Western Australian premier George Leake.[5]
References
- ^ "Western Australia". The Age. No. 7326. Victoria, Australia. 5 August 1878. p. 2. Retrieved 27 December 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ISBN 9780646575346.
- ^ "New locality in South-West 'Yebble' honours local Noongar hero". Government of Western Australia. 1 April 2021. Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
- ^ "COMMERCIAL". Inquirer and Commercial News (Perth, WA : 1855 - 1901). 14 June 1882. p. 2. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
- ^ "OLD TIME MEMORIES". Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885 - 1954). 25 February 1916. p. 43. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
Further reading
- Henderson, Graeme; Cairns, Lynne; Henderson, Kandy-Jane, 1955- (1980), Unfinished voyages : Western Australian shipwrecks, University of Western Australia Press, ISBN 978-0-85564-176-4)
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