A few posts ago, I proposed that because of the unusual lead trace pattern in the Somerton Man’s hair, and the evidence broadly suggesting that he was a non-Aussie merchant seaman, we should perhaps look at the crew lists for November 1948 for the (very few) ships taking on lead at the smelter wharf at Port Pirie, not so very far away from Adelaide.
Looking at the Port Pirie Recorder from that time, only three (or possibly five) ships fit the bill (of lading): American Producer, City of Delhi, Lanarkshire, and possibly Annam or Ericbank. I asked if anybody would be so good as to go to the NAA archives in Adelaide to have a look at the crew lists in D3064 for November 1948: and a volunteer very kindly came forward (more on that later).
Here’s an update on what we have discovered so far in the pursuit of this Australian lead archive trail.
Firstly, the bad news: that D3064 unfortunately only contains crew lists for ships that enter or leave Australian waters at Port Adelaide or its outports. For ships travelling from Europe to Australia, the first and last port of call would usually instead be Fremantle (right on the western end of Australia), which is where their crews would be declared on arrival and departure. Similarly, for ships travelling from the United States, the first and last port of call would usually be Brisbane (right on the eastern end).
As a result, my determined volunteer has now doggedly ordered some quite different archives (relating to desertions) for this coming week, and I wait with great interest to see what turns up there.
All the same, if we could find out which Australian ports these five ships first entered and last left, we should be able to find their crew lists elsewhere in the NAA’s voluminous archives. So I decided to give this a go, using newspapers in Trove and various records in the NAA.
Ericbank
16 Sep 1948 – arrived at Sydney from Nauru in thick fog
17 Sep 1948 – sailed from Sydney to Port Kembla
10 Nov 1948 – arrived at Port Pirie from Melbourne
12 Nov 1948 – sailed from Port Pirie to Sydney
20 Nov 1948 – sailed from Sydney to Honiara (the capital of the Solomon Islands)
Unfortunately, it’s not clear to me which Sydney NAA archive file to consult for Sep/Nov 1948 crew lists: any suggestions?
Incidentally, while in Port Pirie, two seamen from the Ericbank were each fined £5 with 7/6 costs for taking someone’s bike for a ride, a money-making ploy that recent London mayors have taken on with enthusiasm. 🙂
Annam
01 Oct 1948 – a brief profile in the Adelaide Advertiser:-
One of the first motor ships in the world — she was built in 1913 — the 6,636-ton Danish freighter Annam, is due at Port Adelaide tomorrow morning with paper pulp, canned fish and Baltic timber, from Oslo and New Zealand.
An unusual feature of her construction is that, viewed from forward, the Annam appears to have no funnel. Although placed in the normal position, her funnel looks hardly more than an exhaust pipe for her diesel engines. The Annam has five passengers from New Zealand, all of whom will leave the ship here.
02 Oct 1948 – arrived at Adelaide from Oslo (presumably via New Zealand?)
05 Oct 1948 – unloaded “100,000 super feet” of softwoods
08 Oct 1948 – departed Port Adelaide for Port Pirie, Port Napier, Melbourne.
11 Oct 1948 – arrived in Melbourne
29 Oct 1948 – departed Melbourne “for Scandinavia” (eventually)
01 Nov 1948 – arrived Hobart (Tasmania)
04 Nov 1948 – arrived Launceston (Tasmania), to load “wool, peas and skins for Europe”
07 Nov 1948 – departed Launceston
11 Nov 1948 – arrived Port Pirie
15 Nov 1948 – arrived Port Adelaide
18 Nov 1948 – departed Port Adelaide for Fremantle
24 Nov 1948 – arrived Fremantle from Adelaide
29 Nov 1948 – departed Fremantle for Genoa
Hence the NAA archive files to consult would seem to be D3064 for arrival (held in Adelaide) and PP1/1 (held in Darwin). However, it may also be sensible to look at the Hobart archives for crew lists, because that was where the ship was immediately before it arrived at Port Pirie.
Other details: Danish seaman Jorgen Bernhardt Olsen got so annoyed when a policeman refused his offer of a drink in Port Pirie, that he told him “if I had you in my country I would kill you”, then swung him round and ripped his clothing. (He was fined £3 with 7/6 costs).
I also found records for two 19-year-old Danish crewmen (Kurt Jensen Spuur and Kai Leo Møller) who deserted the Annam on 29th November 1948 in Fremantle. The records in the NAA relating to Kurt Jensen Spuur are openly accessible, and show (particularly if you read them backwards from the end) how the ship’s owners were obliged to put up a sizeable bond for any crew members who had absconded since arriving in the country.
Finally, I also found a picture of the Annam, and a brief summary of the Annam’s war record.
American Producer
18 Oct 1948 – arrived at Brisbane from the US, dropping off several passengers [NAA]
20 Oct 1948 – departed Brisbane for Adelaide via Sydney and Melbourne
22 Oct 1948 – arrived at Sydney, dropping off more passengers (one being the magnificently named Hilda Frankenstein) [NAA]
27 Oct 1948 – departed Sydney for Melbourne
29 Oct 1948 – arrived at Melbourne
07 Nov 1948 – departed Melbourne for Port Pirie
10 Nov 1948 – arrived Whyalla from Melbourne
16 Nov 1948 – arrived Port Pirie from Whyalla
18 Nov 1948 – arrived Port Adelaide from Port Pirie
19 Nov 1948 – departed Port Adelaide
23 Nov 1948 – arrived Melbourne
06 Dec 1948 – arrived at Sydney from Melbourne
16 Dec 1948 – departed Sydney for Newcastle
16 Dec 1948 – arrived Newcastle
21 Dec 1948 – departed Newcastle “for Boston and New York, via Sydney and Panama”
22 Dec 1948 – arrived Sydney from Newcastle
29 Dec 1948 – departed Sydney for America
(Incidentally, it arrived in Boston around 30/31 Jan 1949.)
Hence the NAA archive files to consult would seem to be BP120/1 (held in Brisbane) for its arrival in October 1948, and whatever the Sydney crew list archive is for its departure.
City of Delhi
11 Nov 1948 – arrived Fremantle from Beira (the second largest city in Mozambique, as any fule kno).
16 Nov 1948 – arrived Port Pirie “from overseas”
18 Nov 1948 – departed Port Pirie “for United Kingdom”
19 Nov 1948 – arrived Port Adelaide
27 Nov 1948 – departed Port Adelaide for Newcastle
01 Dec 1948 – arrived Newcastle from Adelaide
03 Dec 1948 – “The City of Delhi is loading 20,000 bales of wool at Lee Wharf, Newcastle. The cargo is almost equal to all that part of growers’ wool sold at the last Newcastle sales.”
20 Dec 1948 – departed Newcastle for “UK and Continent via Sydney”
21 Dec 1948 – arrived Sydney from Newcastle
06 Jan 1949 – departed Sydney for Fremantle
14 Jan 1949 – arrived Fremantle “for oil bunkers”
I don’t know when it left Fremantle, but it was in Suez by the 8th February 1949.
Hence the NAA archive file to consult is almost certainly PP1/1 (held in Darwin).
Other stuff: Dale Collins reminiscing about his time as a steward on the City of Delhi.
Lanarkshire
14 Nov 1948 – arrived at Fremantle from Mauritius –
18 Nov 1948 – arrived at Port Pirie –
20 Nov 1948 – departed Port Pirie “for United Kingdom via Eastern states”
22 Nov 1948 – arrived Melbourne “from Mauritius”
26 Nov 1948 – departed Melbourne to Sydney
28 Nov 1948 – arrived Sydney “from South Africa”
08 Dec 1948 – departed Sydney for Melbourne
11 Dec 1948 – arrived Melbourne from Sydney
15 Dec 1948 – departed Melbourne “for Liverpool”
20 Dec 1948 – “The steamer Lanarkshire was expected to arrive in Albany from the Eastern States early this morning to lift 400 tons of refrigerated cargo from the meat works of Thomas Borthwick and Sons. The cargo comprises frozen meat, poultry and offal for the United Kingdom. The Lanarkshire will call at Fremantle en route for Britain.”
30 Dec 1948 – departed Fremantle for Liverpool
Hence the NAA archive file to consult is without much doubt PP1/1 (held in Darwin).
Unusually, this very fast (18 knots!) merchant ship had an entire profile written on it telling how it once outran a group of 17 U-Boats during WW2, as well as including profiles of some of its crew. Another article notes how it was an Empire ship, Britain’s wartime answer to America’s Liberty ships.
Talk about a different time… I wonder if those sailors would have stolen that bike if they had known that for their £10 they could have assaulted three and third policemen.
cf: please don’t tell me how many policemen they could have assaulted if they had stolen a unicycle. 🙂
The Mercury (Hobart) 12th April 1948 page 4
Seamen’s High Rate Of Desertion
SYDNEY, Sun. – Seamen from oversea ships in Australia are deserting at the rate of 40 a week, according to official figures. The desertion rate is the highest ever reported. Official figures show that 400 oversea seamen deserted yearly in Australia before the Second World War. Now the rate is nearly 2,000 a year. Most deserters are from England. When they desert they illegally buy ration cards which are selling on most waterfronts at £5.
Nick,
the following is something that I started work on, but have not completed. I will not have enough spare time in the next couple of months to work on it, and I thought it might be better to post it and see if readers can eliminate any names on the list, or find any possible links to SM through physical description and age, or connection to ships carrying lead ore.
I have made this list of ship deserters for 1948 from the files relating to deserters (searched for Deserters and 1948) in the Australian Archives. Where I have eliminated some of these deserters I have noted the reasons. I note that newspaper reports in 1948 say the desertion rate had risen to 2,000 per year whereas less than a hundred “Deserter” files were raised in 1948. I think the difference between these figures is because most deserters were caught pretty quickly and files were only created where a deserter had been missing for more than a couple of weeks.
I have removed some names where the desertion took place after 30th November 1948. Some files related to desertions prior to 1948, where the file has been created in 1948 for some reason.
White William Joseph – deserter – arrived 22 September 1948 in Mackay aboard ALCYONE FORTUNE
Williams David – deserter – arrived 22 September 1948 in Mackay aboard ALCYONE FORTUNE
Dragicevic, Marijan P – Deserter Not him. Departed 25.7/1949
Kaino Erling G. (Norwegian Seaman) Immigration Report/MV “Dicto” Fremantle 11.9.48 Deserter Not him. Physical description and age
Peter GUDLAND Norwegian – deserter SS ‘Kattagat’
AKA Pedar Gudland and Peter Goodland
Kjell Osan – Norwegian deserter SS “Lappland” Fremantle
Collins, K S – Deserter
Dyball, Raymond – Deserter
Cano, Angel Parra – Deserter
Macaulay, Alex – Deserter
Kreismann, Edgar – Deserter
Johansson, Lennart Valdemar – Deserter
Quinn, Thomas Charles Francis – Deserter
Wissink, Nicolaas – Deserter
Baize, Andra L – Deserter
Calby, Thomas – Deserter
Julian, Norman – Secton III deserters
Dromgool, Leo Thomas – Deserter
Van Gool, Jacobus – Deserter
Koronicki, Izek – Deserter
PEDERSEN Juel – Norwegian deserter ex M.V Acadia 16 September 1948
Cornelius VAN DEN BOOGART [Notification of status as deserter and subsequent application for naturalisation
Joseph CAMILLERI [Deserter – “Fort Dauphin”]
Norman Barlow [deserter from RMS STRATHAIRD]
VAN HOOF T J M – Dutch deserter – (? Qld Investigation file 1945-48 Van Hoof Theodorus Martinus Josephus) September 1948 address 248 Boundary Street Brisbane. Dutch military personnel who deserted in Australia. Not him. Born 1924
Kenneth Hodge [deserter from SS GOLDEN WEST]
Andrew McGubbin Pollock [deserter from SS LANGLEEGALE]
Owen John Oakes (British) deserter ex SS LAWHILL at Sydney 9 Sep 1944
LINDER W. – Swiss deserter – M.V. Cheltenham 12 July 1948
CHANDRINOS Joanis – Greek deserter ex S.S. Dimitrios A. Kydoniefs 6 June 1948 File 1949-54 re registration of aliens. Not him
AHLING Ernst Vilhelm also known as AYLING Ernest – Swedish deserter ex S.S Lillohus 16 October 1945 and ex M.V Kanangoora 18 December 1945
JAKUBOWSKI Mieczystow – Polish deserter ex z.z Kawartha Park 11 September 1948
PEDERSEN Juel – Norwegian deserter ex M.V Acadia 16 September 1948
MORAITIS Gerassimos – Greek deserter ex Triton Sydney 26 May 1948 – Application for permit to enter Australia Not him. Files to 1976
KARAVIS Costas also known as Constantinos- Greek Deserter ex Komninos at Fremantle 24 April 1948 – Application for Permit to enter Australia Not him naturalised 1951
Black Robert – British deserter – arrived 6 October 1948 in Townsville aboard CULROSS
Blom Ivan Henry – Swedish deserter – arrived 4 October 1948 in Mackay aboard MIRRABOOKA
Crawford Jack Arthur – British deserter – arrived 4 December 1948 in Brisbane aboard CITY OF NEWPORT
Duparcq Derek – British (deserter) – arrived 2 July 1948 in Brisbane aboard TARANAKI
Jackson Leonard Douglas – British deserter – arrived 1 October 1948 in Brisbane aboard SWAINBY
Llinas Jose – Spanish deserter – arrived 16 December 1948 in Townsville aboard CONSTANCE
Lynde R – British deserter – arrived 3 August 1948 in Brisbane aboard TOWER HILL
Maher James – British deserter – arrived 29 January 1948 in Brisbane aboard VARDULIA
Odsvall Jan – Swedish deserter – arrived 4 October 1948 in Mackay aboard MIRRABOOKA
Ryness Basil – British deserter – arrived 20 October 1948 in Brisbane aboard MELBOURNE STAR
If you ever need anything from a Western Australian-held archive, let me know – I work just over the road from the State Library and State Records Office.
I think that the focus should be on ships loading lead concentrates, lead ore, and “ore concentrates” “residues” and “calcines”. And also roasted zinc concentrates.The Port Pirie smelter produced lead ingots and I do not believe that anyone could mishandle these in such a way as to receive the massive dose of lead that SM appears to have received. Lead concentrates, lead ore, ore concentrates, residues and calcine, could possibly be the cause. Or roasted zinc concentrates. Lead concentrates at the time would have generally been a very fine, dusty powder, and the same for some ores and residues. If this fine powder was inhaled it could cause lead poisoning.
I note that lead and lead ore was shipped out of Townsville, and lead ore and “residues” (lead residues from the Risdon electrolytic zinc plant in Tasmania) were shipped from Risdon.
The S.S. Ventura berthed at Burnie (Tasmania) 19th October 1948 to load 1,250 tons of lead concentrates for the USA. The Advocate (Burnie, Tasmania) 20th October 1948 p 15.
Tasmania did not have a lead smelter in 1948 but produced lead ore from various mines. The lead ore was shipped to the Port Pirie smelters and overseas in 1948 from the ports of Burnie and Launceston. Large amounts of zinc ore containing lead were refined at Risdon (near Hobart, Tasmania) by the Electrolytic Zinc Co. and the “residues” from this treatment process, which contain lead, were shipped from Risdon to Port Pirie.
Recorder (Port Pirie) 15th November 1948 page 2. “ Arrival: Incharran, yesterday, from Risdon with 1,000 tons of residues …”
I would look at the Incharran before any other ship because of the nature of the cargo (lead residues that are likely to be very powdery) and because the likely primitive loading and handling conditions in Tasmania could easily result in lead poisoning. Incharran seems to have been a specialist ore carrier, and it is possible that the residues from the Risdon refinery were loaded directly into the hold and that would generate clouds of dust both at the time of loading, and unloading.
Also, Era 12th October 1948 from Risdon to Port Pirie with residues. The Mercury 13th October 1948 page 14.
A further complication is that zinc ore concentrates from Broken Hill were roasted (at Newcastle, NSW I think) and then shipped to the electrolytic zinc plant at Risdon, Tasmania. These zinc concentrates contained significant amounts of lead (about 3-4% judging from the production figures I have) and the roasted ore would be very powdery. The same comments made for the residue would also apply to this roasted zinc ore concentrate.
B Deveson: that’s extremely helpful, thanks! I was looking at a ship with “concentrates” on just last night and wondering what they were. Colliers and wheat ships we can safely rule out, though. 🙂
Helen: thanks very much indeed for your kind offer, I’ll post up a proper plan in a few days’ time and will email you separately then. 🙂
B Deveson: this list of deserters from the NAA is really great, exactly the same kind of thing that I’ve been working on from a different angle and archive. I started by cross-referencing the list against deserters from ships carrying lead, but now I’m expanding the search to include concentrates as well (thanks for that as well!), will post an update on that before very long. 🙂
Nick, the official figures for the lead content of the zinc concentrates from Tasmania in 1948 was 889 tons (Australian Mineral Industry. Production and Trade, 1842-1964. Bureau of Mineral Resources Bulletin 81. page 250). Most, if not all, of this concentrate would have been sent to the Port Pirie smelter and it would contain significant amounts of silver and small amounts of other metals, including some gold. As you are aware, SM’s hair does show a silver spike.
When the new MS data become available it may be possible to narrow down the source(s) of the lead and silver etc. to a specific mineral field.
Barrier Mine – September 17, 1948
“Lead Tie-Up at Smelters
Adelaide – Because no lead had been shipped from Port Pirie since September (3 or 8) , the yards at the smelters were becoming overloaded, a Broken Hill Associated Smeltors official said today. The dispute between smelters and wharf drivers was preventing shipments. Some people feared the smeltors soon might have to stop production if more stacking space could not be found. Overseas and interstate shipping companies’ industrial officer (Mr. G E Pryke) said the waterfront drivers at Port Pirie were claiming 1/9 an hour lead bonus. This had been refused and no ships had called at Port Pirie to load lead since September (3 or 8).”
Pete – Mr. G E Pryke. For real. Easily inserted into any sub-plot one can dream up.
I have found other similar articles and the date of “stoppage” was in fact, September 8th.
There are twenty three files in the National Archives of Australia that deal with lead poisoning. Six of these are available online and they deal with lead poisoning at the Port Pirie smelter, at the Broken Hill mines and in other industrial settings. Spray painting is mentioned, as is the use of tetra ethyl lead (TEL) in petrol. I have wondered about the use of tetra ethyl lead in aviation petrol (“Avgas”). I haven’t been able to discover where in Australia TEL was blended into the petrol, but I expect that TEL was imported from the USA and distributed to local refineries where the TEL was added. TEL, being an organic lead compound that is soluble in fats and lipids and suchlike body components, is far more dangerous than inorganic forms of lead.
In the late 1940s the CIA looked at the possible use of TEL for assassinations and the experts commissioned to report on the matter said that TEL was a suitable poison. I will have to dig out the references.
But, there is another, sort of amusing possibility. Up until the early 1950s backyard scrumpy brewers (and probably perry brewers) in the West Country were still contracting lead poisoning through the use of lead in the preparation of these alcoholic drinks (Google Devon colic). And, I note that a significant number of early South Australian pioneers were from the West Country and there was a significant cider industry in South Australia in 1948.
So, Somerton Man could be Somerset man?
B Deveson: I think the world is good and ready for the first cider-based Somerton Man conspiracy theory. 🙂
misca, I have been forbidden to add any more subplots, but there’s always been room for lead in the cargo. I’ll just wander off an see if any of Nick’s ships had a hand in the war.