GLENBANK 1911

Back to search

Glenbank under full sail

In November 1910, the steel barque Glenbank arrived at Balla Balla, Western Australia. The ship had been chartered by Whim Well Copper Mines Ltd to transport copper ore from Balla Balla to the United Kingdom.

The Whim Well Copper mine was located about 20 kilometres inland from the coast. A private, single-track, narrow-gauge railway was used to transport the copper ore from the mine to Balla Balla jetty, which had been leased to the company. At the jetty, the ore was put on to lighters (a type of flat-bottomed barge) and ferried out to the anchorage near Depuch Island. There, the ore was loaded on to cargo ships, such as Glenbank. This would have been a manually laborious and time-consuming process; it could take months to load a ship.

Glenbank had 20 crew members (mostly Russian, Norwegian, and Finnish) and was under the command of Finn, Captain Fredrik Moberg.

Description

3 masted Schooner

Construction

Iron

Size

length 73.20 beam 11.30 draft 6.40 Ton 1481

Built

1893 Rogers & Co., Glasgow

Owner

OwnerJ.A. Zachariassen Master F.R. Morgan

Sunk

Lost1911/02/07

Location

Lost at sea 20 miles off Cossack, 8 or 9 miles off Legendre Reef

Latitude/Longitude

(-20.321033, 117.033501)

Sinking

Cargo shifted. Thought to have struck Delambre Reef or rocks adjacent to Legendre Is

Underwater

Depth of 35m considerable amount of hull and rigging remain

Gallery

Glenbank had 20 crew members (mostly Russian, Norwegian, and Finnish) and was under the command of Finn, Captain Fredrik Moberg. Crew of Glenbank, with Captain Moberg in the middle.photo.Rauma Maritime Museum
MBES 3D view of the wreck, with stern in the foreground. The deck beams protruding vertically from the seabed near the centre of the wreck, demonstrate the complete separation of the upper deck from the starboard hull plating, 2019. Credit: Precision Hydrographic Services
The Glenbank wreck site is located in the National Park Zone of the Dampier Marine Park.Credit: WA Museum
The Whim Well Copper mine was located about 20 kilometres inland from the coast. A private, single-track, narrow-gauge railway was used to transport the copper ore from the mine to Balla Balla jetty, which had been leased to the company. At the jetty, the ore was put on to lighters (a type of flat-bottomed barge) and ferried out to the anchorage near Depuch Island. There, the ore was loaded on to cargo ships, such as Glenbank. This would have been a manually laborious and time-consuming process; it could take months to load a ship.Train at Balla Balla jetty, 1912.E. L. Mitchell | State Library of Western Australia, 013988PD
Map published in The Sunday Times showing the final journey of Glenbank, 1911. Credit: The Sunday Times, 12 February 1911
Only one member of Glenbank’s crew survived. Antti Ketola, a 22-year-old Finnish seaman provided an account of what happened to Glenbank and his own survival to The West Australian newspaper: “About 8 p.m. we were having something to eat, when all hands were called on deck, and six of us were ordered aloft to take in the leeside of the lower main topsail, but only myself and the third mate went aloft. It was blowing that hard I could scarcely get up the rigging. We made the lee side of the topsail fast, and whilst doing so the vessel took a heavy list. She was shipping heavy seas at the time. I was on the yard, and the third mate got as far as the mast, when the vessel capsized right over… I stuck to the end of the yard until it sank, and then commenced to swim… I just kept myself afloat. About half an hour afterwards I saw a shark, but kept it off with my knife every time that it would attempt to come near me… As the sun was rising next morning I landed on the island.” (The West Australian, 13 February 1911)

Location

References

  1. WA Museum