INDUNA
Shipbuildervessel built by
Hall, Russell & Company, Limited
(Aberdeen, Scotland, 1864 - 1992)
Date1891
Object NameSCREW STEAMER
ClassificationsShip
Dimensionslength 190 3/6' x breadth 28 1/12' x depth 14 1/12'
Gross Tonnage: 699 ton
Gross Tonnage: 699 ton
Object numberABDSHIP001909
Keywords
Yard Number: 266
Official Number: 98564
Fate: Demolished at Grafton, Australia in 1934 – A section of hull still remains in a park in Grafton.
Propulsion: Steam
Description: Steel screw cargo and passenger vessel, well deck. Electric light fitted..
Owners:
1891: John Thompson Rennie, Aberdeen.
09/1904: sold to Henry Edwin Campbell.
12/1904: sold to Burns, Philip & Co Ltd, Sydney for use on their New Hebrides, Gilbert, Ellice and Marshall Islands service.
05/1920: sold to The Patrick SS Co. Ltd Sydney
07/1923: the Patrick Co went into voluntary liquidation and assets were taken over by the newly formed Patrick Steamships Ltd.
06/1925: sold to the Railway Commissioners for New South Wales, Sydney and converted into a train ferry for use at Grafton.
Masters:
1894: Master J. S. Iceton
General History:
01/02/1894:
INDUNA, steamer engaged in local trade, is reported ashore south of Inhambune, near Natal.
(Aberdeen Weekly Journal)
13/04/1900:
Steamer INDUNA landed at Durban, 111 British refugees expelled from Transvaal [at start of Anglo-Boer war]. Officers of INDUNA state there are hundreds more unfortunate British subjects from Transvaal waiting at Dalgoa Bay for passage by coastal steamers to Durban for Capetown.
(Birmingham Daily Post)
06/06/1900:
Sierra Leone - British steamer INDUNA, Algoa Bay for Gibraltar, put in with 3 blades of propeller broken, but has repaired and proceeded.
(Glasgow Herald)
25/06/1900:
British steamer INDUNA has sailed from Gibraltar for South Africa with 1,000 Spanish mules on board.
(Liverpool Mercury)
Historical note: Winston Churchill travelled this ship after his escape from the Boers at the time when she was employed on the South African coastal route. He managed to escape Pretoria’s POW camp and, helped by English sympathisers, travelled by train through the enemy-held Transvaal to reach Lourenco Marques (now Maputo) 21 December 1899. Aided by the British Consul, he caught the INDUNA on her weekly run south to Durban where he was welcomed as a hero. RK
In August 1914 the INDUNA, which was not fitted with wireless, arrived at Jaluit in the Marshall Islands to find Admiral von Spee’s squadron at anchor, together with a large number of German merchant vessels. Captain Webster and Chief Engineer Walford formed the impression that there was some kind of celebration in progress but, as soon as the INDUNA dropped anchor, she was boarded by an armed party of Germans who informed them that war had been declared and that the ship would be held indefinitely. The crew was confined to the ship, but the Captain, Chief Engineer and Supercargo were told they were free to go ashore, even being provided with fishing lines. The ship’s bunker coal was taken by the Germans, who offered to pay 2 gold sovereigns per ton, either on the spot or after the war. The Supercargo accepted the former offer and Burns, Philip was indeed paid. The INDUNA and her people lay in the lagoon at Jaluit until they were rescued by the Japanese, and the ship arrived back in Sydney in October 1914.
The old INDUNA later became a train ferry on the Clarence River, only to be stripped when no longer required. Her hulk can still be seen at South Grafton, partly buried in the river bank.
(Mike Richards (1987), “Workhorses in Australian Waters” (Wahroonga, NSW), p. 210.)
Engine details - Steam by screw, inverted, surface condensing, triple expansion engine, 15” x 24” x 39” with 30” stroke, 735.75 i.h.p., 95 n.h.p. by HR. 10 knots loaded.
Boiler - number 1 steel; heating area (ft^2) 1502.9; diameter 13' 6"; length 10' 4"; furnaces 3 x 3’ 3¼” dia; pressure (p.s.i.) 160
Propeller - 10’ 7” diameter, solid, cast iron.
See also:
History (CS): - http://www.clydeships.co.uk/view.phpyear_built=&builder=&ref=51625&vessel=INDUNA
History: - http://www.afloat.com.au/afloat-magazine/2010/may-2010/Induna
History: - http://www.flotilla-australia.com/burnsphilp.htm
History (RK): - http://www.ro-klinger.de/NH/ship%20runs/The%20New%20Hebrides%20Runs%20INDUNA.pdf
Collision: - http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/16087654
http://www.photoship.co.uk/JAlbum%20Ships/Old%20Ships%20I/index7.html
digital.slv.vic.gov.au/dtl_publish/compleximages/41/2677152.html
https://www.shf.org.au/archives-research/photographic-collections/shf-general-collection/australian-ships/
http://www.graftonrowing.asn.au/history/bridge_history.htm
float.com.au/afloat-magazine/2010/may-2010/Induna#.UOiakOS6eUM
http://www.clarencetourism.com/about-the-clarence/the-clarence-river-of-adventure/clarence-river-sailing-crusing-guide/ulmarra-to-rogans-bridge/p/1073
