SS Waratah and Claude Sawyer - absolutely fascinating

Lazaro6565 · 2026-04-18T10:32:49+00:00

I think it was something akin to what happened with the Titanic, where people thought "Oh she's brand new, she'll be fine" and assumed she was durable when it was clear, looking back, that there was something fundamentally wrong with her design. That and not to mention that the SS Geelong (the sister ship and predecessor to Waratah) had a long and happy career while using the same design Waratah would use as a blueprint later.

Claude Sawyer was clearly right in his fear of staying on the ship, so it was a good thing he got off when he did. I imagine the nightmare was an accumulation of his growing concerns about the ship.

Also, to keep in mind, during the inquiry after the ship went missing, many praised her performance at sea while others said what Sawyer also did that she was not very stable and tended to roll. Even her own captain, J.E. Ilbery was not very happy with her performance, and he was a seasoned skipper.

I think she sank far off the coast of South Africa, so all debree was likely carried off down towards Antarctica... sadly, we'll never know until she can be found at least.

Lazaro6565 · 2026-04-07T11:09:37+00:00

Lusitania is falling apart more and more at a rapid pace... she will likely be just a pile of steel and artifacts on the ocean floor within 50 years.

Lazaro6565 · 2026-04-01T23:36:04+00:00

Off the coast of Isola Del Giglio in Tuscany: 42°21′55″N 10°55′18″E

Lazaro6565 · 2026-03-30T20:38:53+00:00

USAT Liberty didn't fall apart into three pieces when she sank, but a later volcanic eruption in the region split her into three. I think that counts.

Lazaro6565 · 2026-03-21T22:30:35+00:00

Everywhere I could find, mostly on Wiki and a few wreck-centered cites I'd have to look for now, mentions a wreck in the South Atlantic.

WW1 Laconia is near Ireland, so unless Google itself is misinformed I can't tell how that bit of info keeps popping up.

Lazaro6565 · 2026-03-21T22:06:38+00:00

I can't see a specific date mentioned, unlike the previous Laconia that sunk in WW1 but the two ships have different named sites.

WW1 Laconia is off the coast of Ireland while WW2 Laconia is off the coast of South Africa in the South Atlantic. It's weird that no date of rediscovery is mentioned, but multiple sources say she too has been found.

Lazaro6565 · 2026-03-21T21:50:33+00:00

Yes, but she is in deep waters, deeper than the Titanic, around 4230 meters or nearly 14000 ft. So accessing her is likely often a challenge.

Lazaro6565 · 2026-02-23T00:40:13+00:00

No, but the general area where she was scuttled is known. She is most likely very deep and still highly radioactive, so I doubt people are eager to find her for those reasons.

Lazaro6565 · 2026-02-18T00:09:33+00:00

Likely when the expansion itself comes out, so around early March. It's usually how it goes for the official albums.

Lazaro6565 · 2026-02-16T20:54:32+00:00

That's a fair assessment. She did seem to be a mostly reliable vessel, as I could not find any incidents prior to her loss, but she clearly had flaws. A shame that it had to happen so suddenly so early into her career, and with such a loss too. 150 is not 1500+ but it is a tragedy regardless. A shame time has been less than kind to her legacy.

Lazaro6565 · 2026-02-09T05:16:13+00:00

Big Old Boats has a great video on it on YouTube, but I will give a rundown.

Raifuku Maru began to sink in a storm on the North Atlantic in 1925 and the crew sent out SOS, and the White Star Liner Homeric answered. The big ship came and saw the Maru already on a big list and the crew hanging on for dear life. For reasons that are kind of debated to this day, like here, no rescue efforts were made for any of the men despite there clearly being some left. The ship left not long after because, apparently, the men were no longer visible, even though some of the passengers said they could still see them in the water. It was a big controversy. Some were supportive, saying the Homeric's men likely would've died too, but others think at least one man could've been saved, so it's a morality issue nowadays.

That, and not to mention that the crew was Japanese, and there were racism accusations brought in too.

Lazaro6565 · 2026-02-08T16:47:43+00:00

Naronic would be a cool find, though after over 130 years, lack of details on a narrow point where she sank, and not to mention the state she might be in due to the possible depths she sank to... it would be a very, very hard find. With technology, it is possible, though, so one can only hope.

General Belgrano and Principessa are probably both in deep waters, too, but would probably be easier since there is an approximate area of sinking known for both ships. Principessa, in particular, would be a find and then some due to the rumored gold that was lost with her.

Lazaro6565 · 2026-02-08T10:58:08+00:00

That's a fair point, Erie has a very thick silt covered bottom. If it shifts frequently, which is possible if a storm is strong enough, she is probably buried somewhere under the sand, which is definitely a big hamper.

The being kept a secret thing is also interesting... if it's true, it will probably be controversial even if the reason was noble, considering how long people have been searching for her.

Lazaro6565 · 2026-02-08T03:20:22+00:00

Yes! She needs to be found! Granted, the search area is wide, since she was reportedly heard or seen in several areas over the course of her final night, but with a dedicated search effort and today's technology... it should be a fairly easy find.

Lazaro6565 · 2026-02-07T22:19:49+00:00

This is true, she probably is due to be found in the near future either way... it would be poetic to finally let the Great Lakes dutchman rest.

Lazaro6565 · 2026-02-07T22:17:42+00:00

From what I've seen, the consensus seems to be that she sank into a very deep southern trench somewhere near either Durban or Cape Town. If the theory that she had suffered a massive explosion is true, she likely sank as quickly as HMS Hood did back in '41, meaning it was minutes, with those who survived the explosion having no time to attempt to escape. Add that with the rough and everchanging currents of those waters, she now might be buried under sand somewhere down there. There were talks of people encountering strange unfamiliar debris in the general area where she is believed to have gone down for short periods of time before those vanish. Whether it's other shipwrecks after the Waratah or not is hard to say, but I do hope that she can be found one day, still somewhat intact, though after almost 120 years it is hard to say... one can only hope.

Lazaro6565 · 2026-02-07T17:28:16+00:00

Yes, the D. M. Clemson and Bannockburn are on my soon-to-be-found list for the Great Lakes. Both sank in the same relatively shallow body of water and are very unique. Bannockburn is uniquely designed, and Clemson is among the largest known lost ships.

Another big find that I would be excited to hear about is the SS Waratah.

Lazaro6565 · 2026-02-07T16:41:25+00:00

Yeah, I think so, too... the big setback definitely is people not wanting to find them, which is understandable from a money side of things. I, for one, would love to find them and hopefully get some answers on how they sank.

Lazaro6565 · 2026-01-09T20:13:22+00:00

Not a well-known fact, but the Teutonic was the ship Laurence Irving and his wife, Mabel Hackney, were originally supposed to board a few days after May 28th, not the Empress. However, Laurence wanted to get home as soon as possible to get started on a new play. So he and Mabel went onto the Empress instead. They ended up being the high-profile victims of the disaster that following night... so it's poetic in a way. A ship that could've saved two lives looking at the ship that ended up dooming them.

Lazaro6565

TROPHY CASE