OK history buffs a real conundrum
Submitted by sunshine on Tue, 2018-06-19 21:09
please see the attached photo taken by a mate of mine whilst exploring one of the islands off Dampier.
The shadow obscures the A .....the vessel name is Delta..... But all our searches of maritime records doesn't seem to reveal anything about this vessel .....any ideas
Image Upload:
timboon
Posts: 2957
Date Joined: 14/11/10
No way thats pretty spesh if
No way thats pretty spesh if its dinkum....
I'll stay tuned, good luck....
Try contacting the Maritime Museum in Freo maybe?
Dale
Posts: 7930
Date Joined: 13/09/05
Wow, that’s interesting.
"Just because you are a Character, Doesn't mean you have Character."
Mr Wolf
petermac
Posts: 2946
Date Joined: 03/03/10
nah no way
dont believe it , i have been all over those islands , never seen it , what island is it on ? if its true needs to be protected
walloped
Posts: 191
Date Joined: 08/04/12
You obviously missed this
You obviously missed this patch Peter.
Lastchance
Posts: 1273
Date Joined: 02/02/09
Every square inch of all 42
Every square inch of all 42 islands Pete? You must be 137 years old bunj
sunshine
Posts: 2612
Date Joined: 03/03/09
He worked there for over 25 years
And he only found it this morning having sailed back up there in his Cat. He was as surprised as you. Will speak to the museum in the morning as it is an amazing bit of history
Rob H
Posts: 5806
Date Joined: 18/01/12
Ring Mac MacCarthy at the
Ring Mac MacCarthy at the Shipwreck museum Fremantle.
If he doesn’t know about it no one does
Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...
The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.
Everyone's just winging it.
Carry
Posts: 657
Date Joined: 22/04/09
Is that 1349
Is that 1349 or 1849 either way thats unreal . I always keep my eye open when walking the islands
We feel nothing but a certain difficulty in continuing to stand
Riles
Posts: 119
Date Joined: 20/02/11
Interesting
Keep the information flow coming
Stefan
Posts: 55
Date Joined: 01/11/16
There's no way it could be
There's no way it could be 1349 and be real. It looks English and given they didn't really do any major exploration until about 100 years or so later.
sunshine
Posts: 2612
Date Joined: 03/03/09
Clearly 1849
I have sent the photo to Michael McCarthy at the museum to see if he can shed any light on it. For Peter's benefit it is located on (removed at the request of the museum).
If I hear from the museum I will let you know
Brock O
Posts: 3233
Date Joined: 11/01/08
Very Cool...Looking forward
Very Cool...Looking forward to his reply and the story behind it.
sunshine
Posts: 2612
Date Joined: 03/03/09
He got straight back to me
He was unaware of its existence but has sent it on to three other people who might be able to shed some light on it.....I await their advices with interest
Swompa
Posts: 3893
Date Joined: 14/10/12
It would have to be 1849
It would have to be 1849 otherwise it would have been in Dutch or Portuguese though if actually in 1300's it would re-write history of this fine patch of dirt we have.
Certainly would take a bit of time to scratch anything into that rock!
Bit of excitement none the less and I look forward to the story.
dodgy
Posts: 4578
Date Joined: 01/02/10
Doesn’t look like it’s
Doesn’t look like it’s eroded much over the years.
Does anyone know where the love of god goes, when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
Mulie
Posts: 546
Date Joined: 20/02/11
Could be this one mate.
Could be this one mate. Sailed from Plymouth to Port Adelaide and arrived on 31 Oct, 1850.
There's no J. Leek on the list for that voyage, but it didn't leave Plymouth until the 4th of August so he could have left the ship by that time.
http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/SAShips1850.htm
Mulie
Dale
Posts: 7930
Date Joined: 13/09/05
Good find there Mulie
"Just because you are a Character, Doesn't mean you have Character."
Mr Wolf
XF347
Posts: 101
Date Joined: 02/06/17
Also found this, a J Leek
Also found this, a J Leek arriving in SA in 1844.
http://www.familyhistorysa.org/shipping/passengerlists.html
sunshine
Posts: 2612
Date Joined: 03/03/09
No couldn't possibly be
Suez was not open back then so that voyage took them south of the Cape of Good Hope then straight across the 50's to Adelaide, I actually have the answer but having all sorts of issues cutting and pasting into this forum. The WA museum have been absolutely brilliant so the moment I work it out I will provide the details they have given me
Hi Gordon,
Thanks for forwarding the image of the DELTA inscription. As it happens my colleagues Ross Anderson for the Museum and Alistair Paterson from UWA (copied in here) have been researching the inscriptions since they were reported to the Museum in 2014.
The DELTA was an American whaling ship of 314 tons which was hunting whales around the Dampier Archipelago between May and September 1849, in company with two other whalers, the SOLOMON SALTUS and the COMMODORE PREBLE. Unfortunately we have limited records of the ship, which was lost at sea in 1857.
Ross says:
“The Museum has been working with UWA (as part of their Murujuga-Dynamics of the Dreaming’ ARC Project) to research and record Dampier Archipelago whaling inscriptions further with an article shortly to be published in Antiquity (currently under embargo until publication so I can’t send it now sorry) titled:
Paterson, A., Anderson, R., Mulvaney, K., de Koning, S., Dortch, J. and McDonald J., "So ends this day" records in stone of American whalers in Yaburara country. Dampier Archipelago, Northwest Australia .
On its 16th voyage between October 1848 and June 1851 the Delta visited the New Holland Ground of the west coast of Australia, during which time the ship anchored for several months in the Dampier Archipelago conducting bay whaling.
The Delta’s logbook lists the ships it was whaling with as the Mars, Arab, Saltus and Preble.
Please thank Gordon and Gary for their reports on my behalf.
Kind regards
Dr Ross Anderson
Curator
Maritime Archaeology”
I’m sure Ross and Al will be happy to answer any other questions when the publication is finalised.
Regards,
Michael Gregg
Maritime History curator
47 Cliff Street, Fremantle WA 6160
Locked Bag 49, Welshpool DC, WA 6986
T. 08 9431 8456
museum.wa.gov.au
Join us @wamuseum
The Western Australian Museum acknowledges and respects the Traditional Owners of their ancestral lands, waters and skies.
The WA Museum values sustainability. Please consider the environment before printing this email.
Mulie
Posts: 546
Date Joined: 20/02/11
That's an awesome bit of
That's an awesome bit of history. They left Greenport in New York. There's more history about it here at the New Bedford Whaling Museum:
https://www.whalingmuseum.org/search/
Mulie
Faulkner Family
Posts: 18036
Date Joined: 11/03/08
hard to believe something
hard to believe something like that had gone unreported for so long concidering how many would have visited the island. def a piece of history
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
piston broke
Posts: 776
Date Joined: 05/11/08
J Leek
had chipped away the surrounding rock to form the letters (harder task) than chipping into the rock.
sunshine
Posts: 2612
Date Joined: 03/03/09
It's a light effect....actually cut into the rock
I thought the same but my mate has confirmed it is an optical illusion
timboon
Posts: 2957
Date Joined: 14/11/10
Thanks for using Fishwrecked
Thanks for using Fishwrecked to share the story,
The mind boggles as to what life would have been like 50, 100, 200, 400 etc years ago on the sea, its a harsh enough environment with all the latest tech and weather forcasting!!
The mind also boggles that Peter mac didnt know about this, did he even work in the Pilbara?
Adam Gallash
Posts: 15647
Date Joined: 29/11/05
Very cool
Very cool post. Might think twice about having a look when chilling in the Dampier bays from now on, who knows whats hiding away.
Site Admin - Just ask if you need assistance