Jim Lad Posted December 1, 2018 #1 Posted December 1, 2018 The Ships The lovely iron barque 'Ethel' was built in Sunderland in 1876 as the 'Carmelo'. In 1891 she was sold to Australian owners who renamed her 'Ethel' and traded successfully until January 1904, when she was driven ashore on a small and remote beach on the southern Yorke Peninsula of South Australia in a severe storm. One young crew member was drowned trying to swim a line ashore but the remainder of the crew were later rescued. The 'Ethel' berthed in Hobart The first vessel on the scene of the wreck was the Adelaide Steamship Company's S.S. 'Ferret', which was built at Glasgow in 1871 and later stolen by confidence tricksters and steamed to Australia. The plot unravelled in Melbourne when a port official became suspicious of the ship’s true identity and the ship was seized and later sold to the Adelaide Company. 'Ferret' was unable to assist the 'Ethel' due to the severe weather at the time, but reported the loss and was later able to assist in the rescue of the crew. In a bizarre coincidence, the ‘Ferret’ was caught in a sudden dense fog off the southern Yorke Peninsula in November 1920 and ran aground on the very same beach that had claimed the ‘Ethel’. The ‘Ferret’s’ Master was censured by the Board of Inquiry for ‘not exercising due care’. The 'Ferret' in Port Adelaide The Wrecks The ‘Ethel’ was thrown high onto the beach above the high water mark by the storm that wrecked her, where she remained with her hull more or less intact until 1986, when another severe storm broke the weakened hull up. The ‘Ferret’ was not as fortunate as she was wrecked in the surf line and quickly broke up. Much of the cargo from both vessels was able to be salvaged at the times of the wrecks, apart from several barrels of beer from the ‘Ferret’s’ cargo which was washed up onto the beach and went ‘missing’! The 'Ethel' and the 'Ferret' on Ethel Beach shortly after the 'Ferret's' stranding Today The remains of the ‘Ethel’ are still easily visible high up on the beach today and are very easily recognised as a shipwreck, in spite of the work done by the 1986 storm. As the ‘Ferret’ broke up in the surf there is very little to see of her now. Sometimes the sand will wash away from a part of the wreck as it had on the day of our visit a few weeks ago, leaving the end plate of the boiler just protruding from the sand – the rest of the boiler is buried under the beach along with the remainder of the wreck. The Remains of the 'Ether' today Faceplate of the 'Ferret's' boiler just protruding above the sand Harvey Golden, thibaultron, druxey and 17 others 20 Quote
Louie da fly Posted December 3, 2018 #2 Posted December 3, 2018 I was there a couple of years ago and saw and walked around what was left of the Ethel. A very inhospitable coast. Never thought I'd see it on this forum. Steven mtaylor, druxey and leclaire 3 Quote It's not really a ship model unless you've bled on it. CURRENT BUILDS Golden City - Ballarat paddlewheeler La Lomellina - Theoretical Reconstruction of a Genoese carrack sunk in 1516 FINISHED Venetian merchant Ship from Basilica of San Marco Australian couta boat RMS Titanic HMVS Cerberus 11th century Byzantine dromon Winchelsea Nef - Late 13th century Mediaeval ship Henry Grace a Dieu - Rebuild of 1:200 model I started in 1967 Mistydeefer - restoration of decor model yacht
Jim Lad Posted December 3, 2018 Author #3 Posted December 3, 2018 Everything maritime eventually comes to MSW, mate! 😁 Was there anything of the 'Ferret' visible when you were there? John DonSangria and mtaylor 2 Quote
Louie da fly Posted December 3, 2018 #4 Posted December 3, 2018 Hard to be sure. I was only told about one wreck, and by someone not versed in things maritime, so I was only looking for one. But if I remember correctly, there was only one group of remains visible, so it's likely the Ferret remains were buried. The wreck is on a narrow bit of beach at the bottom of this enormous cliff. There's a timber walkway/stairway down to the beach now, but it would have been murder getting up the cliff in the day. It's now all part of a National Park, very popular with fishermen, and you can stay (if you can afford it) in the renovated cottages used by the gypsum miners. Worth a visit, but pretty bloody stark and rugged. It's all limestone just under the sand and scrubland on top. I think I saw a tree there . . .😉 Steven Rik Thistle and mtaylor 2 Quote It's not really a ship model unless you've bled on it. CURRENT BUILDS Golden City - Ballarat paddlewheeler La Lomellina - Theoretical Reconstruction of a Genoese carrack sunk in 1516 FINISHED Venetian merchant Ship from Basilica of San Marco Australian couta boat RMS Titanic HMVS Cerberus 11th century Byzantine dromon Winchelsea Nef - Late 13th century Mediaeval ship Henry Grace a Dieu - Rebuild of 1:200 model I started in 1967 Mistydeefer - restoration of decor model yacht
Jim Lad Posted December 3, 2018 Author #5 Posted December 3, 2018 The 'Ferret' is a bit to the south and further down the beach than the 'Edith'. John mtaylor 1 Quote
Sheppaz Posted February 8 #6 Posted February 8 Just found this thread. The story is near to my heart; I grew up nearby. Last year in put a model of Ethel into a bottle; as she looked the day after her stranding, sitting on the sand just clear of the waterline. Hope you enjoy it! Matt LEGION 12, Harvey Golden, Javelin and 8 others 10 1 Quote
Louie da fly Posted February 29 #7 Posted February 29 I was wondering why the names Ethel and Ferret seemed familiar. But of course what I was really thinking of was Michelle and Ferret - mtaylor 1 Quote It's not really a ship model unless you've bled on it. CURRENT BUILDS Golden City - Ballarat paddlewheeler La Lomellina - Theoretical Reconstruction of a Genoese carrack sunk in 1516 FINISHED Venetian merchant Ship from Basilica of San Marco Australian couta boat RMS Titanic HMVS Cerberus 11th century Byzantine dromon Winchelsea Nef - Late 13th century Mediaeval ship Henry Grace a Dieu - Rebuild of 1:200 model I started in 1967 Mistydeefer - restoration of decor model yacht
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