When the Nellie Hit Astrolabe Reef

Motiti Island (Courtesy of Te Ara)

It was a clear moonlit night on 13 January 1878 when the 77 foot long schooner Nellie, owned by G.W. Owen, a flour and grain merchant, headed from Lyttelton to Auckland. Her 59 tons of cargo consisted of oats, flour, malt and bacon.

All crew were on deck: Alexander George Armstrong, the captain; William Candy, the mate; Frank Silva, able seaman; Charles Hannaford, the cook; and a seaman called Nelson. At 7.15pm, when within a mile off Motiti Island, they changed from starboard to port tack. Changing the watch, Captain Armstrong replaced Candy at 8pm, and Silva took the wheel from Nelson. The wind was westerly and seas were smooth. Having taken bearings, Armstrong believed the vessel was safe and he went below. There was no lookout and about 8.20pm the Nellie, doing five knots with all sails set, struck Astrolabe Reef.

Northern tip of Motiti Island, Wairanaki Bay at right, 9 Jan 2012
Photograph by Brett Payne (All rights reserved)

Armstrong rushed on deck. He ordered the foresail and mainsail to be lowered and told Candy to haul the jib sheet to windward and back the vessel off. Using the headsails, she came free, as Armstrong was thrown against the wheel, and injured his chest. The Nellie was filling fast with water, so he ordered the men to man the pumps while he headed for the sandy beach on the east of Motiti Island. But steering became unmanageable, and he requested clothing and provisions to be put in a boat. Unable to reach the beach, Armstrong ran the ship on to rocks at the north of Motiti Island. When ashore, he employed local Maori to remove the cargo, and farmer, George Douglas, loaned him his boat to report the disaster.

A preliminary enquiry was held in Tauranga before Dugald McKellar, collector of customs, and Captain Hannibal Marks, Tauranga pilot and harbourmaster. Armstrong, Candy and Silva gave evidence and details were wired to the Marine Department in Wellington. Next evening Armstrong returned to Motiti in Douglas's boat with E.G. Norris, the agent for NZ Insurance, which insured the hull. Union Insurance covered the cargo. 

SS Staffa and Captain Baker (inset), c. 1876-1881
Composite copy print courtesy of Tauranga City Library, Ref. 04-593
Original cabinet card of SS Staffa held by Whakatane Museum, Ref. P5777
Original source of portrait of Captain Charles Baker unknown

The insurance companies chartered the SS Staffa, which serviced the route between Tauranga, Opotiki and East Cape, to deliver the salvage to Tauranga, and the SS Rowena to take the cargo and lumber from the Staffa to Auckland. But salvage was delayed due to foul weather. Captain Charles Baker of the Staffa finally made it ashore at Motiti on the 18 January. He found the wreck broadside on the rocks with her bottom out, masts adrift, and unlikely to hold together much longer. About 40 tons of cargo had been landed, mostly undamaged.

The Marine Department’s Judicial Enquiry, held in Tauranga on 24 June 1878, was before JPs Edward Mortimer Edgcumbe and Major David Scannell, and nautical assessor Captain Joseph Ellis. Barrister Oliver Macey Quintal represented the Crown. Mr Brookfield appeared for Captain Armstrong and told the court bearings were taken all the way from Mayor Island. Water was too deep to take soundings, but Armstrong believed they were within a quarter and half a mile clear of the reef. He had told Silva to keep a good lookout. Candy said the Captain always instructed him to keep a lookout, and Hannaford told the court Armstrong consulted his charts and was always on deck in bad weather. But Silva insisted he’d not been told to keep a lookout, and stated the Captain had gone below to light his pipe. As there had been no special lookout the court decided the wreck was entirely Armstrong’s fault. His certificate was suspended for a month and he was to pay £2.15.0. in costs.

References

PapersPast - Bay of Plenty Times. 16, 23, 26 & 30 January 1878, 20 & 23 February 1878

'Motiti Island' map, from An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand URL: http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/1966/24036/motiti-island (accessed 19 Aug 2020)

SS Staffa composite image also reproduced in, Our Opotiki: A Visit to White Island, in the Historical Review, Bay of Plenty Journal of History, Vol. 33, No. 2, Nov 1965

SS Staffa. Whakatāne Museum Ref. P5777 Original cabinet card print (109 x 167mm)

New Zealand Maritime Index http://www.nzmaritimeindex.org.nz/