The Afric and the Zaida at Railway Pier, Port Melbourne
Port Melbourne Pier, State Library of Victoria Image H2008.105/21
I came across this photograph of the Railway Pier (renamed Station Pier in 1930 (1)) at Port Melbourne. The State Library of Victoria has it dated c. 1891-1914, but we can actually give an exact date to the photograph, November 14, 1899. The two ships in the photo are the Afric, on the left, and the Zaida on the right. This post will not be a comprehensive history of either ship, but we will have a brief look at their history as well as how they arrived the Railway Pier in November 1899, to be immortalised in this photo.
We know they were both at the Railway Pier together in November 1899, because of this Shipping Intelligence report in The Age of November 20, 1899.
The Afric and the Zaida at Station Pier
The Age, November 20, 1899 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article188662979
We will start with a quick look at the Afric. The Afric was built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast and launched in November 1898, for the White Star Line. She was the sister ship of their other Jubilee class vessels, Medic, Persic, Runic and Suevic. Her maiden voyage was from Liverpool to New York on February 8, 1899. In September 1899, she entered the Australian service (2).
The launch of the Afric
Liverpool Evening Express, November 16, 1898 on newspapers.com
The arrival of the Afric in Melbourne on November 14, was noteworthy enough to be reported in The Argus, on Wednesday, November 15, 1899 -
The ss. Afric, of the Liverpool White Star line (Messrs. Ismay, Imrie. and Co.), arrived in the
bay about noon yesterday. She is a sister ship of the mammoth Medic that visited Port Phillip recently and to all intents and purposes the Afric is a counterpart of the record steamer in tonnage
and general arrangements that has visited Australian waters. Pilot Schutt had charge of the Afric on her run from the Heads, and successfully berthed her at the Port Melbourne Railway Pier, the master of the pier (Captain Harvey) assisting in the work, which was handicapped be a strong W. wind. The Afric left Sydney at 5.30 a.m. on the 12th, passed Gabo Island at 4 a.m. on the 13th, Wilson's Promontory at 8 p.m., and was reported at Port Phillip Heads at 6.55 a.m. yesterday. There was a fine easterly wind to round Gabo Island, with showery weather at the Heads. From Sydney there are 136 passengers, of whom 14 wire telegraph operators, who have responded to the call from Cape Town for additional men owing to the war in the Transvaal. The largest cargo that has ever been cleared at the Melbourne Custom-house in one bottom will go by the Afric. She is to leave on Saturday for London via Cape Town, but will touch at Portland before leaving Victorian waters to receive a consignment of frozen mutton for the British market. (3)
The Afric at Railway Pier, Port Melbourne, November 1899.
State Library of Victoria Image H2013.223/84
The Age reported that when the mammoth cargo carrier Afric, departed on Saturday she left the pier and shortly afterwards anchor was dropped off Gellibrand Point to await the full tide in passing the South Channel. The report also listed the cargo loaded in Melbourne -
Afric, for London via Capetown: 6914 bls wool, 527 bls skin, 1 pkg pianos, 1000 brs copper, 1772
cs meats, 4 pkgs books, 2200 crts rabbits, 250 cs kidneys, 44, 000 crcs mutton. (4).
As the report notes, after leaving Melbourne on Saturday afternoon, November 18 she stopped at Portland. The locals were allowed to tour the ship and the Portland Guardian had a comprehensive report of the visit of one of the grandest pieces of ingenuity in the ship building business generally, as well as one of the largest vessels that have ever visited the colonies. Part of the report is reproduced here -
Once on deck the tremendous dimensions of the ship were strikingly observable, and a noticeable feature was the entire absence of crowding. The work of taking on board frozen mutton, rabbits, &c., from the Portland Freezing Works was in full swing, but as the refrigerating chambers were almost full no opinion could be formed as to the dimensions, but it is known she has room for 80,000 carcasses in addition to other produce. A glance into the room containing the refrigerating machinery was sufficient to lead to the belief that the statement that the appliances were up to date was true.The engine room for the ship herself is simply a marvel of ingenuity, and quite beyond our comprehension or powers of explanation. The whole of the ship appeared open for the inspection of any so desirous, and we had a peep through the engineers' quarters, the cooks galley, the various cabins, bunks, smoking room, and goodness knows what other places, and found that in all the study has been to give comfort all round. The promenade deck is a very lengthy one, and was being fully availed of by the numerous passengers in various ways. In company with a few others we were permitted to mount to the Captain's bridge, and thus to enjoy a comprehensive view of the ship. The sight was one which could not but fail to forcibly impress the visitor with the magnitude of the vessel. The bridge is some considerable height above the deck, and permits of a view of every part of the vessel, and look which way one will the expanse of deck and fittings is truly astounding. (5).
The Portland Guardian also noted -
The cargo loaded at Portland was - 11,890 carcasses frozen sheep and lambs, 1554 crates rabbits, 49 crates kidneys, 12 crates sweet bred, Portland Freezing Co.; 139 bales wool, Campbell and Sons. Total number of packages 13,644, the estimated value of which is £12,052 (6). The Afric left Portland on November 21 for South Africa (7).
During World War One, the Afric was used as a troop ship by the Australian Government from April 1915, but was torpeoed in the English Channel and sunk on February 12, 1917. No troops were on board but 22 crew lost their lives. (8). The Australian War Memorial holds the the Troopship Movement cards for the HMAT Afric, which records all her voyages as a troopship, you can access it here, There is also a short 'obituary' of the Afric, published in The Age, February 15, 1917, here.
The Zaida, when it was the Kaikoura.
Location and date of photo unknown.
State Library of Victoria Image H91.108/1416
The other ship in the photograph is the the Zaida, a sailing ship. The Zaida was built in 1884 by John Elder & Co, Glasgow (9) for the New Zealand Shipping Company and they named the ship the Kaikoura (10).
The Ships List website, https://www.theshipslist.com/, provides these statistics on the Kaikoura -
4474 gross tons, length 430ft x beam 36ft (131.06m x 14.02m), clipper bows, one funnel, three masts (rigged for sail), single screw, speed 14 knots. Accommodation for 77-1st, 58-2nd and 230-emigrant class passengers (11)
In 1899 the Kaikoura was sold to the British India Steam Navigation Co and renamed the Zaida.
The Kaikoura is renamed the Zaida.
Brisbane Courier, August 15, 1899 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/3699624
As we can see from the article, above, the Zaida, was sailing to Melbourne for a shipment of horses. She left London on August 16, arrived in Brisbane on October 17, with 42 immigrants and a small number for northern ports (12). She sailed to Newcastle, and left there on November 1, and arrived in Melbourne on November 3 (13). On November 14, 1899, she left Melbourne for Calcutta, with a load of 250 horses, shipped by Mr T. Derham, jnr of Braybrook, as the article below, tells us. He was the son of Thomas Burge Derham, proprietor of the Braybrook Hotel and local land owner (14).
The Zaida leaves Melbourne on November 14, with 250 horses.
Footscray Independent, Saturday, November 18, 1899
The Zaida was later re-fitted by the new owners to carry 142 first class and 20 second class passengers and used on the Madras - Straits Settlements - Singapore route. She was broken up in January 1907 (15).
Back to our photograph of the Afric and the Zaida - we know the Afric arrived in Port Phillip Bay about noon on November 14 and she was moored at Railway Pier, Port Melbourne. We know the Zaida left Port Melbourne on the same day, so this photograph could only have been taken in the afternoon, on Tuesday, November 14, 1899.
Acknowledgement
I posted this photograph up on the Lost Melbourne Facebook page on January 2, 2023, and wrote that I believed it was taken in November 1899. Amongst the comments, Shirley Earl, listed the manufacturers of the two ships and Cameron Turbet that the Afric was a troopship in World War One. These were very useful starting-off points for my research for this post.
Footnotes
(1) Station Pier History https://www.vicports.vic.gov.au/about-us/port-history/Pages/station-pier-history.aspx
(2) Harland and Wolf Shipbuilding and Engineering Works website http://www.theyard.info/; the Afric entry is here http://www.theyard.info/ships/ships.asp?entryid=322
Wikipedia entry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Afric
(3) The Argus, November 15, 1899, see here.
(4) The Age, November 20, 1899, see here.
(5) Portland Guardian, November 22, 1899, see here.
(6) Portland Guardian, November 22, 1899, see here.
(7) Portland Guardian, November 22, 1899, see here.
(8) Harland and Wolf Shipbuilding and Engineering Works website http://www.theyard.info/; the Afric entry is here http://www.theyard.info/ships/ships.asp?entryid=322
(9) John Elder - Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame entry - https://engineeringhalloffame.org/profile/john-elder
(10) Ships List website - The Kaikoura entry https://www.theshipslist.com/ships/descriptions/ShipsK.shtml
(11) Ibid
(12) The Age, October 19, 1899, see here.
(14) Thomas Derham - Sunshine Historical Society https://www.sunshinehistoricalsociety.org.au/braybrook-hotel and https://www.sunshinehistoricalsociety.org.au/derham-mrs-matilda
(15) Ships List website - The Kaikoura entry https://www.theshipslist.com/ships/descriptions/ShipsK.shtml
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