When the collier Birchgrove Park sank off Avalon in 1956, a local man was among the 10 who died
On August 1, 1956, the 640-ton collier Birchgrove Park left Newcastle bound for Sydney carrying 500 tons of coal. On board were 14 men, including two who lived on the northern beaches. But of the 14 crewmen, only four reached Sydney alive and of the two locals, only one made it home.
Manly
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On August 1, 1956, the 640-ton collier Birchgrove Park left Newcastle bound for Sydney carrying 500 tons of coal.
On board were 14 men, including two who lived on the northern beaches.
But of the 14 crewmen, only four reached Sydney alive and of the two locals, only one made it home.
The 640-ton collier was built in 1930 for R.W. Miller and Company for the 60-mile Sydney-Newcastle run and was used during World War II as a minesweeper.
But by 1956 the ship had become such a pile of rust that its master, Captain Laurence Lynch, refused to let his wife set eyes on it.
So everyone was as surprised as he when the ship passed its marine survey in July 1956 with a 100-plus A1 Lloyd’s rating.
But within a week of that survey, the Birchgrove Park sank and Captain Lynch and nine of his crew were dead.
Nor was Captain Lynch without blame.
When he sailed out of Newcastle on August 1, he knew the automatic alarm fitted to the collier’s wireless had not been connected to the aerial, rendering it useless.
He also knew that only half of the full complement of tarpaulins had been fitted over the holds and that the ship had a slight list to port because the coal had not been loaded evenly.
Within an hour of leaving Newcastle, the ship ran into an unexpected southerly storm and a rapidly rising sea.
As the wind increased, the wind and the waves tore at the scanty hold coverings, loosening them, and the ship began to take in more water than her pumps could remove.
Twice the crew had to refit the hold coverings but the Birchgrove Park continued to ship water but water was also entering the ship through the goosenecks, or vents, on its deck and through a leaking steam pipe.
At the subsequent Court of Marine Inquiry, it was suggested that if only 10 per cent of the sea water that washed into the hold that night was absorbed by the 500 tons of coal in the hold, the ship would be carrying an extra 50 tons and this was a ship that could not take on another five or six tons of coal because it was already almost fully laden.
Near Broken Bay, Captain Lynch cast a reckless die and lost.
Despite talk among the crew of making for the safety of Broken Bay until the storm had abated, Captain Lynch made the fateful decision to press on to Sydney.
About midnight the collier was off Whale Beach and the wind was reaching speeds of more than 65km/h.
But 4km off Avalon the combination of unseaworthiness, carelessness and recklessness brought an end to the battle for the ship’s survival.
Wallowing in the swell, listing sharply and with its deck awash with nearly every wave, the Birchgrove Park was doomed and Captain Lynch ordered her abandoned.
It was now up to the rescue authorities to play their sad part in this maritime tragedy.
Although the wireless was useless, the Birchgrove Park had been able to flash an SOS to the South Head signal station with a handheld lamp at 2.35am but the signalman at South Head thought the SOS was coming from the vicinity of Long Reef.
A collier that had just left Sydney was directed to Long Reef and the pilot boat was dispatched but it was more than six hours before any naval vessels left the harbour and another hour before any aircraft were put into the search.
It was eight hours before the first survivors were found, floating 6km off Barrenjoey Head.
After drifting for more than nine hours in a waterlogged lifeboat, two more crewmen made it ashore at Box Head, on the northern side of Broken Bay, including Able Seaman Neil Stuart, of Ashburner St, Manly.
Stuart and the other man were taken to Manly Hospital and were released the following day
But these four were the only survivors – Captain Lynch and the other nine crewmen died in the cold August water.
The body of First Engineer Gordon Sim, of Undercliffe Rd, Freshwater, was never found.
The Seamen’s Union called a 24-hour strike in Sydney and Newcastle the next day as a mark of respect for those lost and marched to the cenotaph in each city to lay wreaths.
The union also presented more than ₤1000 to the widow of each crewman.
While Captain Lynch was remarked upon as a highly competent seaman, the Marine Board of Inquiry questioned his conduct and judgment that stormy night and held him responsible for the useless wireless.
Of the vessel, the board followed the result of the ship’s recent survey – that it was “well found and with all necessary lifesaving equipment”.
But the disaster also raised serious questions about the efficacy of the marine search and rescue authorities, specifically why every available plane, helicopter and naval vessel had not been immediately thrown into the search for survivors.
Although a vigorous press campaign was mounted, these questions were never properly answered.
The wreck of the Birchgrove Park, now lying in several pieces in 50m of water 4km off Avalon, is a memorial to unanswered questions.
Why was the ship declared fit?
Why did the captain err so badly in his judgment?
And why did the authorities not start the search sooner?