Ill-fated Titania ship a victim of war blackout
Anne Erwin grew up hearing the adventurous tales of her seagoing father and grandfather. One of the most memorable was the story of the day the Titania sank, unexpectedly becoming New Zealand’s first World War I maritime casualty. As told to Ruby Macandre
The day the Titania left Fiji bound for New Caledonia in July 1914, there was no thought that World War I was imminent but less than a month later, the crew would find themselves in peril, watching as their beloved ship sank.
The 1107-tonne vessel – a fourmasted barquentine – was owned and captained by Pehr Ferdinand Holm, who, in 40 years of sailing, had never had a serious accident. All that changed on August 23. In late July, the crew began the journey to Surprise Island, unaware that the French Government had imposed war regulations and a blackout on Noumea and its Amedee lighthouse.
At the time, the ship, like many vessels of its kind, was not equipped with radios and Surprise Island had no regular mail, radio nor cable connection with any other country.
As Titania approached the dangerous reef off Amadee Island, Holm asked the third mate, his 20-year-old son Mariner Holm, to go aloft and search for a light.
One was sighted and assumed to be from the lighthouse. But, unbeknownst to the crew, French authorities had already extinguished the lighthouse at New Caledonia.
The light they saw turned out to be a masthead light from HMAS Australia.
Unsure about the light, Captain Holm gave orders ‘‘to stand out till daylight’’ but it was too late as a swell violently caught the Titania, sending it on to the reef just after midnight.
The force was so great that noone could stand and everyone on board was forced to take refuge in the bow.
The bottom of the ship was ripped out. The crew sent rockets up all night but to no avail. By daylight it was clear only two lifeboats could be launched – the others were damaged beyond repair.
The crew climbed into the larger boat, leaving Captain Holm, his son and friend Harry Howden to check the damage, before the ship went down by the bow and broke in pieces.
Captain Holm and Mariner Holm arrived in Noumea harbour in a small boat towed by a steamer.
‘‘The battering the Titania took that night was the worst I saw in all my years of sailing,’’ the younger Holm wrote. ‘‘The fact that no lives were lost was nothing short of a miracle.’’
Mariner Holm and Howden later returned to the ship to save its cat, three pigs and the ship’s bell.
The bell was brought back to the capital, where it remains in use at Wellington Central City Fire Station.
The Titania was not the only ship wrecked on the reef that night. By daylight, the crew saw not just the lighthouse nearby but three other wrecks piled up alongside.
An inquiry was held and Captain Holm, along with the masters of the other ships, was exonerated.
‘‘The real cause of the wreck was the mistake in regard to the light. The officers could not know that the Amedee light was out.’’
The French were ordered to pay compensation but, as Germany refused to pay its indemnity to France, they, in turn, refused to pay up.
The Titania’s sister ship made £70,000 carrying freights during the year of the sinking. Holm received no compensation. The 70-year-old suffered a stroke while in New Caledonia and died 21⁄2-years later.