Grey River flood

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DescriptionIt is not the Mathew Flinders as the colour is wrong she had a buff / grey colour and she had gantry cranes fore and aft. This ship is black suggesting Union company plus it has the derricks attached to the mast.

The Taupo broke from her moorings July 16th 1900, caused by an 8 knot run in the river and a strong wind, and was swept downstream, and became a total wreck on the North Tip. The Omana broke away from her moorings on the 9th of June 1935 in a 10 knot run in the river, she collided with the Kiwitea which in turn broke her moorings and they both drifted downstream before they both grounded near the Rock Wall, both were later floated. Next the Abel Tasman broke her moorings on 18th of July 1936, again caused by a flooded river after heavy rain, she was swept down river and ended up on Cobden Beach just around the North Tip and was a total loss. And in recent times the Seatow Barge Seatow 17, broke away from the wharf loaded with over 3.000 tonnes of coal and was carried down river once again, date 25th of August 1995, the barge was refloated using the Seatow Tug Seatow 22.Map^[1]

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Location (city or town)GreymouthLandmark (Place)Grey RiverEventFlood

Category Information

Category TagDisasterMenuBy Topic | Working Life | Shipping Last edited by: Tracey Butler

By Location | Greymouth Last edited by: Tracey Butler

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LinkGrey River floodCommentsBrian McIntyre Seen that a few times with the motors running half ahead to take the weight off the ropes and rocks bouncing along the river bed bashing against the hull
4 hrs · Like · 2

Malcolm Howell Great photo. Imagine the onboard panic if ever a vessel broke free.
2 hrs · Like · 1

Graham Ferguson Hello Don yes a real tricky one there, there is not much Ian doesn,t know about shipping he is an expert on shipping matters, i have known Ian for along time, we use to swap photographs for many years. I have all his books he has written, and there are a few of them, the Union Fleet being one of them. Now your great grandfather and his shipping interests, pity about the lost records, i don,t suppose Google would help, its not the answer to everything is it, have you tried any Museums down Dunedin or Southland way, don,t know what else could be done there, do you know if any of the ships were lost in their careers as they would be recorded in NZ Shipwrecks.Rex Bourke how well built was that wharf-big ups to the great great grandstars
1 hr · Like · 1
Graham Ferguson the Taupo broke from her moorings July 16th 1900, caused by an 8 knot run in the river and a strong wind, and was swept downstream, and became a total wreck on the North Tip. The Omana broke away from her moorings on the 9th of J...See More
Don Hutton Thanks Graham Ferguson I have some mainly brief information about the "final destinations" (wrecks, broken up etc) of quite a number of the ships, some after they had gone from Guthrie ownership, but nothing about the actual company or Henry's business as a ship broker and shipping agent apart from shipping news entries in old editions of the Otago Witness and ODT. Henry was on the Otago Harbour Board in the 1890s but their records reveal little of him. I'll try the Hocken and Otago Settlers again.
A West Coast link was with the "Alma": Barquentine, built in Scotland in 1854. Dimensions - 162 tons, length 118 ft. Wrecked at Greymouth in 1880 and repaired. Total loss on 3 August 1883 at Elizabeth Reef, NSW, Australia. Owned by Henry at the time.

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