The vessel
Over the period of its lifetime Uribes was registered at a number
of different ports. It was clinker-built and rigged as a barque with one
bulkhead, three masts and elliptical stern. The shipbuilders were M. Pearse
and Company and it was registered in Liverpool to the De Uribe family of
Spain. After various changes in ownership the vessel was re-registered in
Port Adelaide, South Australia in 1883 and it was reported that it was de-rigged
and operated as a lighter with a short mast. In 1934 the new owners of the
ship cut down to between its decks and rebuilt it as a three masted schooner,
with petrol engine and crew accommodation. The kerosene-petrol engine was
British built, made in 1929 with six cylinders and capable of speeds of
4.5 knots and operated at 75 BHP. By 16 July 1934 the vessel had been sold
to Cossack Lightering and Trade, and was re-registered in Western Australia
(McKenna, 1988:8).
The wreck event was described in information given by an army staff officer
at Rottnest at the time of the vessel's loss, Mr Gordon Humphries of Tropical
Traders and Patersons of Fremantle, (McKenna, 1988:9).
The wreck event
In either June or July 1942 the Uribes, laden with one hundred and fifty six inch shells, stores and a couple of motor vehicles, arrived at Thomson Bay jetty from Fremantle, but owing to a northerly breeze could not remain at the jetty and her master decided to return to Fremantle. Near Phillip Rock the ship's motors cut out and it was found that the anchors would not hold. The ship drifted in a southerly direction and struck a reef about 300 yards from the Natural Jetty. She was holed and sank. She quickly filled with sand to deck level. The motor vehicles and some of the stores were salvaged but owing to the sand it was found impossible to remove any of the shells. She was surveyed as unfit for salvage and remains where she foundered, presumably with the six inch shells still in her .
(RAN area archives officer n.d., quoted in McKenna, 1988:9) |
Site location
The wreck is located 100 metres west of Natural Jetty, just off the beach
in front, hard up against the reef.
Site description
The site lies on sand bottom in 23 metres of water and the gunwales
of the port side break the surface at low tide. The wreck lies hard up against
the reef on the shore line and is subject to seasonal scouring which occasionally
clears the hull to the bilges. The hull appears relatively stable with the
bows intact below the deck line while the rest of the hull except the stern
is intact from below the turn of the bilge. With seasonal scouring the diesel
engines and other machinery become visible, though the small deck winch,
and the remains of the windlass are visible at all times (McCarthy, 1980d:2).
Statement of significance
Archaeological
Through the examination of the hull structure significant elements in
the changing design of a trading vessel could be examined. Aspects on industrial
and military history, and archaeology can be explored through the machinery
and shells still left on board.
References
Cockram, C., 1988a, Isometric drawing of the Uribes,
Maritime Archaeological Association of Western Australia Reports, 1987-1988.
McCarthy, M., 1980d, Uribes, unpub. Wreck Inspection Report, Department of Maritime Archaeology, Western Australian Maritime Museum, No. 60.
McKenna, R., 1988, History of the Uribes, wrecked off
Rottnest, Maritime Archaeological Association Reports, 1987-1988.
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