The "Euro vs H.C. Pigott" Debate
Posted by Webmaster on January 19 2006 16:34:11
(or How wreck identification isn't always easy!)
Written by Greg Blair & Barrie Heard
When wrecks have been re-discovered post sinking/scuttling there is a fair amount of effort involved in, first identifying, then verifying, exactly what is the name of the vessel. Sometimes this effort involves far more time than what was spent "mowing the lawn" in the surrounding area. As wrecks can be "discovered", sometimes after submerged for a long time, a certain amount of deterioration may have occurred further hampering efforts to identify and prove the ships identity. Further complications for identification arise when any blueprints or identifying information that might have been available has been discarded into the dusty archives, buried and over time, lost forever. The subsequent identity can be a subject of discussion for several years with ongoing debate between interested parties as to the wreck's true identity. One such case (or mystery) surrounds two vessels locate in the Commonwealth Dumping Ground Number 3, located off the coast of Victoria, Australia.
Over many years, several discussions have occurred between various technical diving groups regarding that true identity of two vessels, one, a harbour tug called the EURO and another, a dredge named the H.C. PIGOTT. Normally, you would think that there would be a clear distinction between both vessels due to their totally different purposes, superstructure and configuration but unfortunately time and the ravages of the sea has complicated the identification for these vessels. Comparing images taken from the archives with the modern images taken recently of the vessels lying on the seabed can further confuse the issue of identification. Hopefully the pages documenting our research will go some way in resolving this situation.
Both vessels lie in depths deeper than normal recreational diving limits and subsequently require substantial decompression obligations before divers can safely surface after even moderate bottom times. The area that they lay is also subject to weather and conditions that are not always conducive to diving meaning opportunities to visit them are also limited. This report/page is a record of various discussions and opinions from various Technical Divers, Charter Operators and leading local experts involved in searching and identification of shipwrecks in this part of Victoria's coastline.
Divers involved in the project:
Barrie Heard - Technical Diving expert, Wreck finder, Team IANTD member.
Rowan Stevens - Trimix Technical Diver, Leader of the Red October Group, Wreck finder, Team IANTD member.
Jeff Giddens - Operator and Owner of Scuttlebutt Scuba Charters, Technical Diver.
Greg Blair - Trimix Technical Diver, Underwater Photographer, Team IANTD member.
Pedr Klein - Trimix Technical Diver, Team IANTD member
The Vessels:
EURO - The EURO was originally laid down in the Gourlay Bros. shipyard, Dundee, Scotland in 1897 and was originally operated in the Port of Adelaide by the Adelaide Steamship Company for most of its working life before being sold to Howard Smith's Australian Steamships, based in Melbourne. After half a century of use, it was stripped of fittings and scuttled in the Ships' Graveyard in 1948. The EURO was a screw steamer (ss) tug of 247 tons with the dimensions of 130' x 22.5' x 12.2'.
H.C. Pigott - The PIGOTT was used extensively during the maintenance of rivers, channels and port facilities of Port Phillip Bay. The vessel was named after Henry Capel Pigott, one of the first commissioners of the Melbourne Harbour Trust. He served as a commissioner between the years 1887-82 and 1885-1913. The vessel was laid down in the shipyards of Fleming & Ferguson, Paisley, Scotland in 1912 and scuttled in the Ships' Graveyard in 1935. She was a screw steamer (ss) hopper barge of 495 tons with the dimensions of 160.0' x 28.1' x 12.6'.
Research Links:
Some links used in our quest to positively identify these scuttled vessels:
Picture Australia for images - www.pictureaustralia.org
Department of the Environment and Heritage -www.deh.gov.au
Australasian Institute for Maritime Archaeology - www.aima.iinet.net.au
Dispelling inaccuracies:
Both vessels were "sister" ships. This rumour is impossible to be taken seriously due to these facts: one is a tug, the other a hopper, both were built in different shipyards and several years between and finally they were built for two totally separate owners.
The two vessels pictured to the left are the EURO (top) as seen during service in the Port of Adelaide and the PIGOTT (bottom) on the waters of Port Phillip Bay. As can be seen, even from these thumbnails, the vessels are quite dissimilar in the shape and positioning of their superstructure. The EURO had the wheelhouse set amidships whereas the PIGOTT has its wheelhouse set more astern.
While the slightly more oblique angle of the PIGOTT image does make it slightly harder to compare, the angle shouldn't shorten the stern deck area significantly to the eye, especially when comparing later images. Both vessels have a straight bow and a cruiser stern, which complicates identification when one is in a poor structural condition on the seabed.
The depth of both of these vessels is beyond the normal recreational diving limit of 40 metres. Nitrogen narcosis coupled with water that usually is clouded with sediments from the Barwon River can mean that the divers suffer an impaired vision of the wrecks. One of the vessels being significantly broken up and this complicates the identification process. Divers sometimes resort to recognising or identifying any of the significant features remaining intact and then referencing these visible clues with historical images or plans from their construction (if they are available).
One particular feature remaining on the bow of the collapsed vessel is the anchor davit (used to raise/lower the anchor from the water and storage on the foredeck).
For sometime, the feature was used as an indication that this vessel was the PIGOTT. All of the previously found historical pictures for the EURO showed that it didn't have a similar anchor davit until additional research found the image when the EURO was working in Adelaide.
The images to the left have been cropped from the first images above, increased in size to provide better detail and set beneath each other. The additional historical images for the EURO (non available for the PIGOTT) are included in the gallery pages linked in the text below).
Details regarding each of these vessels were recorded at the time of dumping at sea. These details include such things as gross tonnage, length, beam and draft are all captured, and still exist, in historical archives. Additionally, plans from the ships construction could be found if the shipyard still exists or their records have been archived at another location. This is the case with the Gourlay Bros. Shipyard where the EURO was built in 1897. The Gourlay Brothers & Company (Dundee) Limited was incorporated on 1 March 1904. By 1905 the company showed a debit balance of over £19,000, a loss which was attributed to the 'serious depression in trade'. By 1907 the loss was over £1,000, much of which had been spent on new buildings and machinery at the shipyard. In 1908 the company's debts forced it into liquidation and the company was wound up. Fortunately there are many records still kept in the Dundee City Council and Dundee University regarding this company including many plans of the various ships that were built in these yards.
Surveying the remains of a vessel can also provide clues or answers to the identity. The EURO has recorded dimensions of 130.0' x 22.5' x 12.2' and 257 tons and the PIGOTT has recorded dimensions of 160.0' x 28.1' x 12.6' and 495 tons. With these dimensions in mind, Rowan Stevens conducted a survey in 2000 in an attempt to confirm the remains of the PIGOTT and obtained a length of 157'. None of the other participants mentioned in the "Divers involved" list above were present during that survey and this has led to further confusion when attempting to reconcile GPS co-ordinates between different charters that have names, or co-ordinates, transposed for each wreck. The reader, if they are acquainted with any sort of wreck diving, especially deep wreck diving, then they would also be aware of how closely these co-ordinates are guarded again hampering the reconciliation/confirmation.
While we are very close to solving the puzzle as to which vessel is which, there are several more dives before we can prove conclusively. We were very fortunate to have perfect weather conditions just prior to Christmas 2003 where Greg Blair and Pedr Klein were able to dive one of the sites, assisted by Jeff Giddens and his dive charter Scuttlebutt. Greg was able to gather a large number of images using a fast black & white film combined with ambient light allowing further analysis of the vessel and comparison to historical images. Please look over the remaining gallery and we would like to hear about your views as to the identities by emailing us at IANTD Australasia.