Falls of Halladale

The barque Falls of Halladale was built in 1886. Her length was 275.2 ft (83.9 m), breadth 41.6 ft (12.7 m) and depth of hold 23.9 ft (7.3 m), and she measured 2,085 GRT and 2,026 NRT.[1] Built for the Falls Line (Wright, Breakenridge & Co., Glasgow, Scotland) as Yard No.130 at the shipyard of Russell & Co. at Greenock on the River Clyde.[1] The ship's design was advanced for her time, incorporating features that improved crew safety and efficiency, such as elevated bridges to allow the crew to move forward and aft in relative safety during heavy seas. She was named after waterfalls on the Halladale River in the historic Scottish county of Sutherland.

Falls of Halladale was the seventh vessel in a series of eight similar iron-hulled sailing ships, all built by Russell & Co and all named after waterfalls in Scotland. Falls of Halladale was preceded by Falls of Clyde (1878), Falls of Bruar (1879), Falls of Dee (1882), Falls of Afton (1882), Falls of Foyers (1883) and Falls of Earn (1884). Falls of Halladale was followed by a sister ship, Falls of Garry (1886). Falls of Clyde has been a museum ship at Pier 7 in the Port of Honolulu and remains there afloat, as of 2023.

The ship was launched on 21 July 1886, and registered at Glasgow on 9 August with British Official Number 93300.[1]

Falls of Halladale is best known for her spectacular demise in a shipwreck near Peterborough, Victoria on the shipwreck coast of Victoria, Australia. On the night of 14 November 1908 she was sailed in dense fog directly onto the rocks due to a navigational error. The crew of 29 abandoned ship safely and all made it ashore by boat, leaving the ship foundering with her sails set. For weeks after the wreck, large crowds gathered to view the ship as she gradually broke up and then sank in the shallow water.

Soon after the accident, the ship's master, Captain David Wood Thomson, was brought before a Court of Marine Inquiry in Melbourne. He found guilty of a gross act of misconduct, having carelessly navigated the ship, neglected to take proper soundings, and failed to place the ship on a port tack before it became too late to avoid the shipwreck. Captain Thomson's punishment included a small fine and a six month suspension of his Certificate of Competency as a Master.

Today, the remains of Falls of Halladale are a popular destination for recreational divers. The wreck is easily accessible by scuba divers about 300 m offshore in 3 to 15 m of water. The hull lies on its collapsed starboard side. Some of the original cargo of 56,763 roof slates remains at the site of the wreck, along with corroded masses of what used to be coils of barbed wire. Twenty-two thousand slates were salvaged in the 1980s and used to provide roofing at the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village in Warrnambool. An anchor that was recovered in 1974 is on display at the village. The wreck of Falls of Halladale is a legally protected Historic Shipwreck.[2]

Anchor from the Falls of Halladale shipwreck, Victoria 1908

• Loney, Jack Kenneth, Falls of Halladale, Marine History Publications, Geelong, VIC, Australia, 1976, ISBN 0-909244-18-9.
• MacGillivray, Jessie Scott, The Wreck of the Falls of Halladale: an Account from the Diary of Jessie Scott MacGillibray, Peterborough 1908–1911, published by Richard & Jenny Stevens, Timboon, VIC, Australia, 2008, ISBN 0-646-50219-0.
• Christopher, Peter. Australian Shipwrecks. A Pictorial History. Axiom Publishing, Stepney, South Australia, 2009. ISBN 978 1 8647658 8 5.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Falls of Halladale (ship, 1886).

• Falls of Halladale
• Final voyage of the Falls of Halladale
• Clyde-Built Ship Database
• Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village website
• "Falls of Halladale Dive Site". The Scuba Doctor.

38.6082°S 142.8571°E / -38.6082; 142.8571