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DIARIES By Des Williams |
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Harold F. Chadwick passed away in late 2000. He was a salvage diver during and after the second world war, working with the Commonwealth Salvage Board and later, the famous Melbourne salvage company United Salvage, headed up by Captain Sir John Williams. Harry was a master standard dress diver and highly skilled boiler-maker/welder. He has left behind a most magnificently detailed set of work diaries and photographs covering about 20 years of his remarkable career. A rich vein indeed of our maritime heritage. His daughter Gail, has approved snippets of those diaries being published in serial form, for the MAAV. It is eventually hoped to produce a book on the life of Harry Chadwick as a fitting tribute, but this is going to take some time as there is a great deal of information to sift through first.
To avoid any confusion, the reader should be aware that there were two salvage divers, known as Harry Chadwick, operating in Australia in the same era. Firstly, there was Harold Chadwick, who lived at McMahons Point in Sydney who was responsible for some great salvage work. One of his most famous jobs being as part of the diving team, which recovered the remains of two Japanese midget submarines in Sydney Harbour, early during World War Two. The excerpts on this website, from the diaries of Harry Chadwick, are from the Melbourne-based Henry Francis Chadwick, known to those who worked with him as, Harry. He was younger than his namesake in Sydney and they did once work together on a salvage job in Sydney Harbour and kept in contact with each other over many years.
I Hope you enjoy this second in the series diary entry and I must point out that none of the following material is to be re-published without the consent of Des Williams or Gail Chadwick. MAAV members are indeed very lucky to be the first to read these private diary entries and therefore observance of Chadwick Family copyright is expected by this reporter.
Harry Chadwick writes . . . . . .
"Taking the coal hulk Dunloe outside the heads to be sunk off Torquay. The job had been holding fire for three weeks owing to weather conditions being unfavourable. All gear lined up ready for favourable weather.
Tuesday 1st July 1947:
"Weather report favourable so went down with gear in taxi to Gellibrand Pier, Williamstown where coal hulk Dunloe was tied up, but no sign of tug or crew when we arrived. Located tug tied up at another pier and upon investigation it appeared there was trouble amongst the crew and they wouldn't put to sea. The explosives truck arrived in the meantime, so I held him until the trouble aboard the James Patterson was settled. (The explosives truck got a puncture at entrance to pier, so we carried explosives up to hulk in taxi)
On its last voyage under sail, the full-rigged ship Dunloe sailed from Sydney Heads to Port Phillip Heads in just 40 hours. It was then converted into a coal hulk and served in this capacity from 1909 to 1947 when, at the age of 77, it was scuttled in the Ships' Graveyard.
Source: Heritage Victoria |
A considerable time passed before the tug could get in any where close to us to send over a heaving line, in the meantime we managed to get the lighter's bow around and ran with the sea. We pulled a small wire aboard (2.5") from the tug and proceeded to try and get back through the heads, the wire being too small to exert any great pull on. The dinghy we had in tow was battered so much by the seas that it filled with water and eventually snapped its tow rope, losing itself in the seas.
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| Photo shows seaman trying to coax the old Dunloe along with the sea, whilst tug James Patterson attempts another pass to get another line aboard. Photo courtesy Gail Chadwick |
I had another job on the next day and had to catch a plane, I told the tug master I could not possibly spend the and wait for the next day. So he asked me to go ashore and get in touch by telephone their supervisor (Capt. Cain) in Melbourne. I went ashore with the surveyor in his launch and telephoned as arranged also getting in touch with the commander of the Swan Island Naval Depot and arranging for a man to take my place in handling the explosives and sinking the hulk if the weather was suitable next day.
They would only supply a man however on the condition that I had all the explosive charges made up ready and would give them a wiring diagram and instructions on my method of sinking, which I wrote out and gave to the tug master to give the rating when he arrived.
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| The steam tug James Patterson. LaTrobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria. |
After trying several hotels, I eventually got into the Esplanade Hotel at midnight, the surveyor then leaving me after having rendered me such good help.
Wednesday 2nd July 1947:
Went around to R. C. Banks garage at Queenscliff at 6AM and got car leaving at 6.30AM for Melbourne. Arrived in town at 7.45AM and got private taxi to my home, where I proceeded to wash up and pack my gear for the King Island job"
Editor's Note: Harry left home for King Island at 9.15AM that morning, so the family certainly did not see him for very long. A very interesting report on the trials and tribulations of dealing with firstly union problems, then bad weather, and the saga of handing over the job and getting back to Melbourne. All of this in the dark and cold weather of the winter months, it must have been freezing out in that old hulk for so many hours, whilst coaxing the old tub back in through the heads. All in a day's work!!!
Red October Mapping Project (Courtesy Rowan Stevens).
See the location of the Dunloe in the Ships' Graveyard.
Location Map : Ships' Graveyard - Commonwealth Area No. 3
