Fire SS Kwinana

locations involved in kwinana s final months

on christmas day 1920 @ 1830 hrs kwinana between geraldton , shark bay laden timber , other cargo wyndham, wa when crew discovered fire in cross bunker, contained 300 tons of coal. crew fought fire , believed had extinguished it, when reached denham, wa broke out again continued carnarvon, wa arrived @ 0200 hrs on 27 december , obtained ashore. cargo discharged @ carnarvon, there hand pumps fight fire. spread, reaching no. 2 hold on new year s day 1921 , reaching no. 3 hold. not extinguished until 5 january. salvage tug wyola sent fremantle , flooded kwinana, sinking @ carnarvon jetty in 19 feet of water. pumped out , raised.

a lloyd s surveyor, captain arundel, , manager of state implement works, frank shaw, declared seaworthy return fremantle. crew distrusted condition , demanded paid premium work fremantle. sss summonsed each crew member refusal of duty, police court bench obtained independent survey of ship captain mills, wharfinger of carnarvon. mills declared ship unseaworthy magistrates dismissed case.

the sss dismissed crew , sent them fremantle aboard ship minderoo. new crew sent fremantle rail geraldton , thence sea carnarvon. on 25 march kwinana left carnarvon under own steam, escorted ship kurnalpi. on 28 march reached fremantle collided ship port stephens.

in bottom of holds 1,200 tons of phosphate ore had been used cattle bed. ore worth £4,000 , insured separately ship. ore discharged @ fremantle , sent superphosphate works.

the ship 28 years old, still had original boilers , running costs had been increasing. before fire sss had considered trade no more next few years, written-down value £4,500. after negotiations underwriters paid owners £17,000 , left sss dispose of her. no buyer found sss decided scrap her. berthed @ no. 9 north wharf several months, stripped of fittings had survived fire. however, work reached stage cost of continuing dismantle ship exceed value of scrap. sss offered auction no bids received.