The vessel
James Service carried three masts on two decks.The iron hull was
clinker-built with a round stern and a demi figure-head of a man. It was
built in Scotland by Dobie and Company, and was owned by James Service and
others from Melbourne. It was engaged in the timber trade from Melbourne
to Calcutta and twice visited the colony of Western Australia to get jarrah
for India.
The barque, on a return journey from India, left Calcutta on 27 April
1878. Shortly after departure, the vessel was becalmed for sixteen days
in the Bay of Bengal and the master suffered sun stroke that brought on
delirium and dysentery. Convinced of a conspiracy, Captain Young's subsequent
behaviour forced the crew to put him under restraint. In Penang he was charged
as incompetent and, although the charges were not proven, it was recommended
that he not resume command.
Captain Sievwright was then employed. When James Service departed
Penang, ten passengers, all members of a theatrical group bound for Melbourne,
and a crew of ten including the captain, were aboard. The cargo consisted
of 3 000 cases of castor oil, 1 000 bales of sack bags and 600 bales of
jute.
The vessel headed southward from Penang to round Cape Leeuwin, a course
that should have taken it several hundred miles off the Western Australian
coast. As there were no survivors of the wrecking, the events that led to
James Service being broken in two on the Murray Reef can only be
surmised from circumstantial evidence.
The wreck event
The wreck probably occurred on the evening of 22 July. An entry in a
diary that washed up on the shore, believed to be in woman's script, stated
that on the 20 th the vessel had encountered boisterous weather for some
time, and that on one occasion the wind had been so strong as to put the
vessel on its beam ends with the yards touching the water.
A local stockman working along the coast saw masts above the surface
of the water west of the River Murray mouth on 23 July. The longboat bearing
the words 'JAMES SERVICE, MELBOURNE' was found on the beach. On the following
day large quantities of wreckage lay strewn along the coast, including cases
and tins of castor oil, luggage, cabin fittings, pieces of decking and many
other sundry items. The trunks belonging to members of the theatrical group
had also come ashore.
The first body to be found was that of a woman and on her petticoat and
drawers the name 'J. TOWERS' was stitched. The body of another woman was
found and identified as Mrs Cowdery. Further bodies continued to be washed
up along 64.4 kilometres (40 miles) of coastline. Six were buried in the
Mandurah Cemetery. Most of the bodies were greatly decomposed and disfigured
which made identification difficult. However, a fully clothed body in officer's
dress with brass buttons embossed with anchors was believed to be that of
the vessel's mate Mr Foreman. Later, in 1878, a diver examined the hull
of the wreck and reported that it had broken in two. This was sold at auction
for £20 in November of that year. |
Site location
The site lies on the southern end of Murray Reef, and is found following
a bearing 335° from the mouth of the Murray River.
Site description
The wreck lies in 5 to 8 metres of water. The axis of the keel runs approximately
east to west with the bow facing west. Wreckage is scattered over an area
55 metres long by 12 metres wide. The bow section has collapsed sternwards
and is canted over to the starboard side. Iron plating making up the outer
hull has largely disappeared since the site plan was made in 1985. The underlying
frames are still intact. The structure rises 2.5 metres from the bottom.
Three dead-eyes with marine encrustation are visible towards the stern,
on the port side of the vessel. Ribs are evident along the sides of the
site.
Steering gear is visible at the stern. Mast pieces are to be found south
of the main wreckage. Immediately south of the central wreckage on a south-east
to north-west axis are two more mast pieces, one of which is 15 metres in
length. Another mast lies 10 metres away. Hoops, wire rope and ship's fittings
are also found on the wreck.
Artefacts
Before the vessel became protected under the Historic Shipwrecks Act (1976)
material was recovered by local divers. In the churchyard of Christ Church in
Pinjarra Road, Mandurah, an anchor and spider ring from the mizzen-mast of James
Service have been placed. A skull found in 1973 in the sand dunes around Rockingham
is believed to be from one of the victims of the wrecking of James Service
(Sledge, 1974:11-12).
Statement of significance
Social
The wreck event had an important impact on the Mandurah community with
casualties from the wreck event buried at the local cemetery.
References
Sledge, S., 1974b, 'James Service wreck', Port of
Fremantle Quarterly, 5.2:14-17.
Murphy, M. & Wells, S., 1989, The James Service site
revisited, Maritime Archaeological Association of Western Australia Reports, No.
3, December 1988June 1989:18-22.
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