The Loss Of The Waratah 1909

The lost ship SS Waratah

Over four years, four ships were lost under different circumstances and 4,000 lives with them — but one thing linked them all: it was John Charles Bigham, Lord Mersey, who was appointed to head the inquiries into each disaster. Mersey is often referred to as a 'company man', or a government stooge. But is this the whole truth? Everyone has heard of Titanic and Lusitania but more passengers died when the Empress of Ireland sank in May 1914. That inquiry turned into a head-to-head between an American lawyer and a British one. Did Mersey let the right man win? Was he fair to Captain Lord of the Californian when he blamed him for the loss of so many lives on Titanic? The U-Boat that sank the Falaba with the loss of 104 lives behaved very differently to the one that torpedoed the Lusitania just six weeks later. Did Mersey reflect that in his findings or was he more interested in propaganda than truth?

"This a slice of our South African maritime history examined and made palatable for young readers. Based on the true unsolved mystery dating back to 1909, the disappearance of the steamer remains one of the most baffling nautical mysteries of all time. The author has woven a story around the historical facts, involving present day children doing research of their own"--Publisher's website.

"According to a publication issued by the London Board of Trade in March 1911 publication, the following passengers and crew were on board the ill-fated SS Waratah when she was lost with all hands on 28th July 1909 off the east coast of South Africa." -- Title screen.

A mother pleads with her son not to sail on a certain steamer because she has dreamt - three times in a row - that the vessel will never reach its destination. Modern-day observers watch in awe as a ghost ship - blazing from bow to stern - dutifully reenacts a two-hundred-year-old tragedy that the observers'' fathers and grandfathers also watched reenacted with the same sense of awe. A crewman walks past a solitary figure seated in the ship''s restaurant only to turn a moment later and find the restaurant empty. A red glow appears in the darkness ahead of a modern warship, and the faint outline of an old galleon, her sails in tatters, is seen approaching against the wind - only to vanish a moment later before the startled eyes of observers. Such strange events have been seen for centuries and continue to be reported even today by witnesses who are, for the most part, sober and responsible human beings. In Lost at Sea folklore specialist Michael Goss and George Behe, an expert on maritime disasters, explore what lies behind these amazing narratives and enduring legends.

Mystery of the missing Waratah solved. This book will captivate your attention.

Lost at Sea features the incredible stories of eight ships and their passengers, some of which vanished with hardly a trace - or no trace at all. Veteran history and mystery writer A.A.Hoehling explores these previously unexplained maritime mishaps with the skill of a detective seeking to uncover a murderer.