by Dr Tom Lewis
The wreck of the Ataluma is a sight unknown to the many visitors to Darwin’s popular East Point. This is not surprising, for the wreck of this once-proud RAN Fairmile is only seen occasionally, when Darwin’s huge tides – up to eight metres – recede enough to show debris scattered well offshore and over many metres of seabed. In 1974 the small ship met her end during Cyclone Tracy, terminating sadly and suddenly a 30 year career of war, whaling and mapping coastlines. But there is still some mystery attached to this warship – which of these of the RAN’s Fairmiles actually became the Ataluma?
The Fairmile launch was designed originally in Britain by Norman Hart. The first derivative, the Fairmile “A”, was a 110 foot craft, of which 12 were built, some by the Fairmile Marine Company. Meanwhile the British Admiralty was working in conjunction with Fairmile, and in 1940 a design eventuated which resulted in the most successful of the name, the “B” type. Over 650 of these Fairmiles were built, many being constructed in prefabricated form overseas.
The launches were large for their name, with a length of 112 feet, displacing 75 tons. The Fairmile “B’s” – all of the RAN’s were this model – were powered by two V12 Hall Scott defender petrol engines of 600 horsepower each. These gave the small ships a speed of about 20 knots.[1]
The first 20 RAN vessels began their construction in the yards of Lars Halvorsen and Sons in Sydney and Norman Wright in Brisbane. Pre-fabricated hulls built in the United Kingdom were also shipped to Australia, with construction carried out in a variety of shipyards, from Melbourne to Brisbane.
The first Australian Fairmile launched was ML 813 – unlike most other RAN ships the Fairmiles had numbers only, rather than names as well. 813 was launched on 7 October 1942 from the yards of Lars Halvorsen and Sons. During the war the fleet of Fairmiles carried out a variety of tasks, from troop insertion and withdrawal to convoy escort and much more.
The first mention of Fairmiles in Northern Territory waters was one of plaintive demand. In early December 1942 it was nearly one year into the war with Japan, and the fight to push onwards was not going well. Attempts to transport supplies into the islands to the north were being beaten back by the Japanese. The corvette HMAS Armidale had just been attacked and sunk south of Timor. In Darwin the Navy was acutely aware of the lack of handy ships, as Commodore CJ Pope, the Naval Officer in Charge, made clear in a plaintive message south:
What is the earliest date I can expect Fairmiles? Requirements Timor operations becoming increasingly difficult with slow vessels available. Last one was unsuccessful except for partial evacuation of refugees.[2]
Small ships are always in demand in time of war, for the duties of a naval area commander are numerous. He must guard against submarines, and there are never enough escort vessels in a convoy. While a bigger warship can guard a larger area, there are plenty of gaps to be stopped by the small ships. He must provide cover for his transports against air attack; prepare for surface warfare both from major fleet units and minor vessels.
To the south Fairmiles were being constructed at a hurried pace, with the boatyards racing to complete just one of the gaps created by the foolhardy economies all governments take with their armed forces in what seems to be an everlasting peace.
The first Fairmile to arrive in Darwin, as Gill tells us, was 815, on 8 April 1943, under the command of Lieutenant CAJ Inman. Her duties included anti-submarine patrol, escort and air-sea rescue. 814 was the next to arrive on 25 May 1943, under the command of Lieutenant RR Lewis.
ML 815’s first mark of distinction was the rescue of three Allied airmen off Darwin on 4 May, 1943. Perhaps it was this vessel John Moyes describes in his book Mighty Midgets:
One Fairmile, on duty off Darwin, received news of two Allied pilots bailing out in the middle of one of the town’s largest raids. The positions of the airmen were pin-pointed on the chart and the M.L. raced away towards the nearer position at full speed. The sea was choppy, but within a few minutes keen lookouts sighted the airman in his small inflated dinghy. He was quickly picked up and then the launch turned towards the second position. Allowance was made for wind and sea and after about half an hour the second pilot was seen almost directly ahead of the speeding M.L. The two airmen were suitably “entertained” in the tiny wardroom and then were landed and sent back to their aerodrome.[3]
In June of that year 815 was deployed on reconnaissance duties around Melville Island. In company with 814, she undertook the evacuation of 87 Portuguese people from Timor in August. This was a trip fraught with horrible possibilities, as Marsden Hordern tells us. He was on board 814, and in his article[4] “Touching on Fairmiles” describes just how dangerous such trips were for the launches:
This operation is to succor our commandos and at the request of the neutral Portuguese government try to rescue a large number of its nationals fleeing from the Japanese and encumbering our men. ML’s 814 and 815will both go. The Japs will be listening and strict radio silence must be observed. RAAF Beaufighters from 31 Squadron will give some air cover but only one at a time….for them this is a horrible assignment. The Japanese have air supremacy over the Timor Sea and the idea of their circling round and round two Fairmiles crawling across 300 miles of such dangerous water makes them feel like sacrificial lambs.[5]
In September 1944 815 was transferred to Fremantle.
Alan Powell in The Shadow’s Edge describes[6] how the Fairmiles made runs to Timor with Allied Intelligence Bureau parties. 429 landed “Adder” party on 20 May 1944, but its cargo of stores was lost when the landing vessel was swamped, and the party was brought home again. 429 made four attempts altogether to land the men; the fourth attempt was successful, with two AIF members, Captain J. Grimson and Sergeant EH Gregg being landed with three Timorese.
Powell outlines how almost a month later 807 and 814 returned to pick up the party, but contact was not made. It was later found that the Australians had been killed in a skirmish while the Timorese had been captured, with one believed to have died.
The question of which of the RAN’s WWII Fairmiles eventually became the Ataluma is an intriguing one – and one which has frustrated this researcher’s efforts so far. Going through the list of the 35 vessels it was obvious that two lost in the war could be written off straight away. However, after disposal of the vessels began in the years after WWII the records became somewhat blurred, with often the date of disposal being the only evidence of a vessel’s fate listed in many RAN archives.
The RAN vessel sold to the Byron Whaling Company P/L, and renamed ByronD I, eventually became the ship wrecked in Darwin today. In 1955 the ship can be found listed in the British Ships registry with an official number of 196416. She was then operating out of Ballina, NSW as a whale-chaser – it is interesting to reflect that if she was still afloat there today, she might be doing whale-chasing for the purposes of observing them rather than harpooning the giant mammals. JH Lewis-Hughes, the Honourary Librarian of the Sydney Maritime Museum, advises that a sister-Fairmile was named ByronD II; she eventually became the Roylen GT and worked on the Barrier Reef.
On 8 September 1963 the ByronD I was sold to Australian Hydrographic Services P/L, and her name was changed to Ataluma – apparently “a galaxy of stars’ in an aboriginal dialect – officially some six months later. Greg Halls, of Australian Hydrographic Services, remembers serving in her, and recalls she was home to her crew, usually numbering around 14, for many miles, and for up to 10 months at a time. Headroom was limited and conditions were cramped, but the ex-Fairmile weathered both rough and difficult conditions. Ataluma carried out survey work in the Far East, around Australia, Papua New Guinea and in the Pacific.
In 1965 Ataluma was overhauled at Whites Slipway Balmain. In the late 1960’s and early 70’s she worked in the Gulf of Carpentaria, on both Australia’s east and west coast, and in Indonesia. Ataluma Point in the Northern Territory was named for her.[i]
During 1974 Ataluma was carrying out a National Mapping Bathymetric Survey when she went aground off Chimney Rocks. With damage to her keel, Ataluma made it to Broome where the Commonwealth Ship Surveyor, in Greg Halls’ words, “virtually ended her surveying days”. With her survey equipment offloaded, Ataluma was brought to Darwin where she was sold in late December, apparently to a company named “Aspacta”.
The winds of Cyclone Tracy began to be felt in Darwin during the afternoon of Christmas Eve of 1974. By evening ships were putting to sea or having their mooring lines strengthened. By 9pm the winds had reached storm strength. Aboard the four Royal Australian Navy Attack-class patrol boats the crews made preparations to ride out the storm, paying out steel cable to the naval cyclone buoys. The vessels used their engines to remain head on to the storm. Civilian vessels too were taken to sea for their best chance of survival, but Ataluma remained at her mooring, which was, according to the Harbour master’s report, “within one mile” of Darwin wharf.
By the time the cyclone had abated in the early morning of Christmas Day, 1974, there were over a score of vessels aground or sunk. HMAS Attack was beached on the rocks near Larrakeyah Barracks. In HMAS Arrow the anchor cable had eventually pulled the anchor winch from the deck, and she was driven into the Darwin wharf, where she sank. The majority of the crew managed to escape by leaping for their lives onto the wharf, where giant steel shipping containers were being blown about. Others – including the ship’s commander, Lieutenant Bob Dagworthy – jumped over the side into the water and managed to make it to land. But two of the ship’s company went down with their ship. Petty Officer Les Catton of Adelaide and Able Seaman John Rennie of Mt. Gambier were both drowned.
The vessels of the fishing fleet had largely been sunk, with some eventually being raised, but the trawlers Bellbird, Bluebird and Dieman remain on the ocean floor today as do the ferry Mandorah Queen and the workboat Charles Todd. The steel schooner Booya, with five people on board, and the ferry Darwin Princess, with one, remained missing, until found in the next century, sunk outside the harbour. 16 people were eventually listed as missing at sea, with only some bodies found. On land, 49 people died.[7]
During the cyclone the unmanned Ataluma was torn from her mooring, and like the rest of the vessels which were not under control, was carried by the outgoing tide towards the mouth of the harbour. There she was dashed against the cliffs of Dudley Point, which lies to the starboard side of vessels leaving Darwin Harbour, just before East Point. Ironically, this is where the ruins of another RAN-operated enterprise lies: the remains of the massive boom net which closed off the harbour during World War II.
Once Tracy had departed, leaving Darwin looking like Hiroshima, the immediate efforts of the incoming Defence Force personnel was concentrated on restoring shore facilities.
Salvage of vessels after the cyclone was concentrated on those that were easily raised or repaired: fishing vessels such as Jenny Wright, Floodbird and Frigate Bird. The Arrow too was eventually raised, as she was close to the wharf.
Meanwhile the Ataluma was resting upright some distance from shore. Being of wooden construction, she slowly fell apart under the ravages of tide and time. A rather sad photograph, taken from the top of the cliffs, shows Ataluma sitting on her keel some distance from shore; her superstructure battered and her signal mast down. Doubtless she was visited a few times for souvenirs over the next few years, once Darwin got back on its feet and leisure time returned.
The wreck site now covers around half a hectare, with the fuel tanks, bollards, and engines being easily recognised. Plating was sighted in quantity – what seemed to be a bow plate and perhaps decking. A circular rim, probably a stern hatch, was found.[8] What appears to be sections of guard railing were also located. The boom net bottom moorings and chains lie nearby.
But which Fairmile is this once hard-working vessel? Of the 35 Fairmiles of WWII, we can make the following lists.
There are two main groups. Firstly, those numbered 424 onwards: 424, 425, 426, 427, 428, 429, 430 and 431. Then 801, 802, 803, 804, 805, 806, 807, 808, 809, 810, 811, 812, 813, 814, 815, 816, 817, 818, 819, 820, 821, 822, 823, 824, 825, 826, 827.
We know the fates of the following:
- 827 and 430 were lost in WWII, leaving 33 vessels.[9]
- Michael Wilson’s Profile Number Three-Maritime Patrol informs us that 424 and 816 were sold to the Roylen company and worked as tourist vessels. Six others also joined the Roylen fleet but their numbers are not given.
- 426, according to Fairmile historian Peter Evans, was being converted to a gunboat towards the end of the war. Bostock’s Australian Ships of War says it was then sold at auction in 1947 to the Melbourne Harbour Trust and after conversion work, was renamed Commissioner in 1951 and served as an inspection launch in Melbourne.
- 807 became Haeremai Star, and was lost in the Torres Strait in 1972.
- 823 became the Esmeralda.
- 809 became the Northern Star and then the Roylen Star.[10]
- 812 became the Point Cloates; the Daydream II, and finally the Captain Cook I.[11]
- Maritime and naval historian Ross Gillett advises: “ML 431 was set on fire by her owners, Ollie Rowney from Karragarra and George Fisher from Russel Island, to secure the copper fastenings on the vessel. They towed her from the Brisbane River and beached her just east of the Karragarra jetty and set her on fire, some say 1946, (but I believe 1947). At low tide you can still see the remains of the ML about 100 metres east of the jetty.”[12]
Those we cannot be sure of include: 425, 427, 428, and 429, then 801, 802, 803, 804, 805, 806, 808, 810, 811, 813, 814, 815, 817, 818, 819, 820, 821, 822, 824, 825, 826.
However, after this article was first drafted maritime historian Graeme Andrews unearthed the Ataluma‘s details in the National Archives’ Shipping Registers. This showed she was built in 1943. That means it cannot be 813 or 814 as they were built in 1942, or 825 or 826 which were built in 1944. (Incidentally, 826, which became the ferry Princess Royal and worked in WA, sank in heavy seas off Malabar, NSW, on July 28, 2001.)[13]
That leaves: 425, 427, 428, 429, then 801, 802, 803, 804, 805, 806, 808, 810, 811, 815, 817, 818, 819, 820, 821, 822, 824.
The document also shows the Ataluma was built by Green Point Naval Dockyard. So that rules out 817, 818, 819, 820, 821, 822, 824 as they were built by Lars Halvorsen, and 815 as that was built by N. Wright, in Brisbane.
That leaves thirteen: 425, 427, 428, and 429, then 801, 802, 803, 804, 805, 806, 808, 810, 811.
The Australian Archives has been searched with little success: some records of Fairmile disposal are held, but they do not yield the information as to the buyer of each Fairmile. The original manufacturers were contacted with a similar lack of results, unsurprisingly they knew what they had built, but not the final destination of their craft. Similar negative results came from shipping registers such as Lloyds of London.
Which Fairmile became Ataluma? If it turns out, upon possible recovery from the wreck of some identifying numbers, to have been one of those which served out of Darwin during WWII, this wreck may assume a more significant status. Even so, this is an interesting and valuable wreck site.
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Dr Tom Lewis OAM is the author of 21 history books, many dealing with Northern Territory history. His most recent are Teddy Sheean VC; Bombers North, and Medieval Military Combat. An officer in the Royal Australian Navy for 20 years, he originally researched Northern Territory shipwrecks from 1988-1995 as preparation for his first book Wrecks in Darwin Waters.
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Thanks to ex-RAN members John Allerton and Graeme Andrews for photo loans. The writer would like to hear from any readers who can shed some light on this small mystery. He can be contacted by via email tom.lewis2619@gmail.com
References:
Bostock, John. Australian Ships of War. Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1973.
Cooper, Hampton. RAN WWII officer on Fairmiles. Discussions, 2000-2011.
Evans, Peter. Historian for the Fairmile Association. Telephone conversation, 4 November 1998.
Evans, Peter. (Ed.) Fairmile Ships of the Royal Australian Navy. Volume I. Loftus: The Fairmile Association, 2002.
Evans, Peter, and Richard Thompson.(Eds.) Fairmile Ships of the Royal Australian Navy. Volume II. Loftus: The Fairmile Association, 2005.
Gill, G. Hermon. Royal Australian Navy 1939-1942. Melbourne: Collins, 1957.
– – – . Royal Australian Navy 1942-1945. Melbourne: Collins, 1968.
Halls, Greg. Letters re service in Ataluma, 1997-8.
Hordern, Marsden. “Touching on Fairmiles”, in The Royal Australian Navy in World War II. Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 1996.
Jeffrey, Vic. “Wartime Fairmile Sinks”. Warship. Volume 12/2002.
Johnston, Eric, RAN, ADC, Naval Officer Commanding Northern Australia during Cyclone Tracy. Interview with the writer, 2 August 1994.
Lambert, John, and Ross, Al. Allied Coastal Forces of World War II. Volume I and Volume II. London: Conway Maritime Press, 1990.
Ledger, Geoff, Commander, RAN, letter to the writer, August, 1994.
Lewis, Tom. “The Navy and Cyclone Tracy”. Sydney: Navy News, December 1994.
– – -. Wrecks in Darwin Waters. Sydney: Turton & Armstrong, 1992.
Lewis-Hughes, JH. Sydney Maritime Museum. Letter, 14 January, 1997.
Moyes, John F. Mighty Midgets. Sydney: NSW Bookstall Pty. Ltd., 1946.
O’Connor, Terry. Fairmile Association – letters re Ataluma, 1998.
Odgers, G.J. “The Defence Force in the Relief of Darwin after Cyclone Tracy”, Australian Government Publishing Service: Canberra, 1980.
Powell, Alan. Far Country. Victoria: Melbourne University Press, 1988.
– – -. The Shadow’s Edge. Victoria: Melbourne University Press, 1992.
Royal Australian Navy. Navy News. Volume 18, No. 1. Sydney: 17 January, 1975.
Royal Australian Navy. Navy News. Volume 18, No. 2. Sydney: 31 January, 1975.
Straczek, JH. The Royal Australian Navy Australian Navy Ships, Aircraft and Shore Establishments. Sydney: Navy Public Affairs, 1996.
Wilson, Michael. Profile Number Three – Maritime Patrol: Helicopter Ships, Submersibles, Amphibious Mine warfare and Patrol Craft. Marrackville: Topmill, publication date not given.
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[1] Evans, Peter. (Ed.) Fairmile Ships of the Royal Australian Navy. Volume I. Loftus: The Fairmile Association, 2002.
[2] Gill, G. Hermon. Royal Australian Navy 1942-1945. Melbourne: Collins, 1957. (p. 218)
[3] Moyes, John F. Mighty Midgets. Sydney: NSW Bookstall Pty. Ltd., 1946. (pp. 81-82)
[4] Peter Evans, who has been writing and compiling a history of Fairmiles for some time, says that “There were no Australians on Timor when 814 and 815 went there, in fact the whole idea was to re-insert an Australian to establish contact with HQ. The person chosen was Jim Ellwood.” He also advises there is some doubt as to the requests of the Portugese government. (Personal communication with the author, Nov 2008)
[5] Hordern, Marsden. “Touching on Fairmiles”, in The Royal Australian Navy in World War II. Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 1996. (p. 169)
[6] Powell, Alan. The Shadow’s Edge. Victoria: Melbourne University Press, 1992. (See Chapter 5)
[7] See Lewis, Tom. Wrecks in Darwin Waters. Sydney: Turton & Armstrong, 1992.
[8] This article has been revised since a visit in October 2011. Before a shallow excavation was dug to reveal this item fully it was thought to be “perhaps part of the clearview arrangements”. But later thinking was that it was the rather small hatch fitted at the stern of these vessels.
[9] Straczek, JH. The Royal Australian Navy: Ships, Aircraft and Shore Establishments. Sydney: Navy Public Affairs, 1996.
[10] Evans, Peter, and Richard Thompson. (Eds.) Fairmile Ships of the Royal Australian Navy. Volume II. Loftus: The Fairmile Association, 2005. (p. 304)
[11] Fairmile Ships of the Royal Australian Navy. Volume II. (p. 304)
[12] Email to the author, December 2012.
[13] Jeffrey, Vic. “Wartime Fairmile Sinks”. Warship. Volume 12/2002. (17)
[i] Place Names Register Extract
Ataluma Point
Extract date: 01/11/2011
Name Ataluma Point
Type Designation Point
Place Id 10471
Place Type Feature
Status Registered
Date Registered 26 October 1966
Location (Datum GDA94)
Latitude: -15° 44′ S (Decimal degrees -15.746771)
Longitude: 136° 48′ E (Decimal degrees 136.815915)
Locality / Suburb Pellew Islands
Local Government Area
History/Origin Named by T Milner (McArthur River Development Company) in October 1966, after the “H.V. Ataluma” a survey vessel used in hydrographic surveys of the area in 1966. NOTE: Not shown on the current 1:250 000 sheet or 1:100 000 sheet.
Register & Gazettal information
Date Gazettal Comment
26/10/1966 NTG54
See: http://www.ntlis.nt.gov.au/placenames/print_extract.jsp?id=10471