The transcript of a diary kept by Thomas Frank, transcribed by his grandson Robert Dennis.
Around the world in the SS Ilford, 1 year 9 months 1912/14
by Mr T F Dennis
I was sailing in a ship named the SS Ilford and had just come back to Cardiff from the USA having been to Philadelphia, Port Tampa and Savannah in the gulf of Mexico.
We were loading coal for Bombay and were having repairs done which the Superintendent Engineer curtailed, saying we would be coming straight back and would only be away three months.
Leaving Cardiff we had quite a decent run to Port Said. As this was my first run “Out East” as sailors called it, I was very interested in all I saw. De Lessops statue towering above his masterpiece which even baulked the Pharaohs.
Arriving at Suez on the 28th December we had a cable from the owners telling us to stop there until the 1st January as the canal dues were being lowered at that date.
Most of the crew had been through the canal but it was my first time, I will give you a brief account. A French Pilot and if as in our case no electric light, a large dynamo was brought aboard and a searchlight fitted on the forecastle head, still in charge of a French engineer. Steaming down the canal provides a striking contrast. East and West, Ancient and Modern Arabs riding their camels on the banks of the canal and pariah dogs lurking about. At certain distances sidings were provided so that ships could pass each other. When you enter the Bitter lakes there was a race for the fast ships to get across and so be first on the second part of the canal. Out of the canal and through the Straits of Babel Manbeb or Gates of Hell. Luckily we went through the Red Sea in January and so we were not greatly troubled with the heat.
On past Aden our naval coaling station in the east and on to Bombay. I visited the Towers of Silence the last resting place of the Parsees. Europeans were not allowed right up to the resting place but the gardens were magnificent. The resting place is built in the style of an arena, there are three tiers for the bodies to rest on, one for men one for women and one for children. The bodies are exposed to the wind and rain and the vultures pick the bones which are then washed into a central pit.
A bird to be seen in Bombay is the Bromley Kite (the sailors have another name for it) I have seen one of these birds swoop down and pick the dinner from a fireman’s plate whilst walking to the forecastle.
After discharging our cargo of coal we loaded a cargo of cotton for Japan. The run to Japan was uneventful, bunkering at Singapore where we saw they had made a start on a huge dock they were building. Passing Sumatra through the Malacca Straights one seems to get that spicy smell which pervades the east. At this stage our Chief Engineer was beginning to be a sick man and was very eager to be left in Japan as his brother another Chief Engineer had died at sea and dreaded going the same way.
Our first port of call in Japan was Osaka a very populated city, hardly had we dropped anchor than the decks were transformed into a miniature Woolworths. Nearly every thing you could think of could be purchased especially the inevitable curry. We did not go ashore at Osaka as we were lying so far out in the bay.
Our next call was Hugo a smaller town than Osaka but very densely populated. We finished discharging there and moved into dry dock at Moji.
On our way to Moji through the inland Sea of Japan and in my estimation one of the prettiest places in the world. Studded with islands and pagodas silhouetted on the sky line makes it more like a painting than an actual Fact. In dry dock the ships bottom was cleaned and painted and minor repairs done. Whilst in dry dock I took the opportunity to visit the Engineering shop and I must say a more efficient and up to date shop I had never seen and this was in 1913 when Japan was just beginning to wake up.
After leaving dry dock we had orders to load at Shemenosake for Newcastle New South Wales, verily our three months trip was developing. Through the Straights of Shemenosake runs one of the fastest currents in the world, 10 knots so we were told, well our old hooker did it in about half an hour, what we expected to be about three hours steaming. Arriving at Shemenosake we took on board about 6000 ton of phosphates for patent manure.
The run down the Pacific was in glorious weather passing all the various islands on our way, some which were marked cannibal on the Admiralty charts. We did not have any fun on crossing the line, being a tramp run on strictly business lines and having a collection of all nationalities aboard and steam trained officers the sentiment of crossing the line was dying out.
At last Australia loomed ahead and soon we were tied to a quay at Newcastle New South Wales. This was an old fashioned town, a steam tram running through the main street and evidence of the early days of Australia, there was a swimming pool built by the early convicts, the idea was to keep out the sharks called grey nurses from getting into the pool.
There was much speculation as to where our next jaunt would be and almost on the point of finishing discharging we heard we were to load coal for Sourabaya in the Dutch East Indies.
We set off as soon as we were loaded and we had to call at Brisbane to pick up a Pilot to take us through the Great Barrier Reef. On the way up the east coast of Australia we passed miles and miles of wild Mimosa which made a perfect picture. Passing through the reef is another experience, the water is so clear that you could see the bottom and the colours of the fish and vegetation. We dropped the pilot at Thursday Island.
On our way again we passed the islands of Timor and Sumatra in the Timor Sea. We saw fishermen here sailing there catamarans. The catamaran is a canoe with an outrigger to which the natives would clamber when they would say it was either a one man or two man breezes. Discharging at Sourabaya we did not have a chance of going ashore as we were lying too far out Discharged we had orders once again to proceed to Newcastle N. S .W.
We again loaded coal for Java. Leaving Java we were to proceed to a small island in the south of Borneo called Putulantto take in bunkers. We had rather an interesting time here in conversation with the manager and the Malay in their natural surroundings.
Finishing bunkering we proceeded to Rangoon to load rice for Calcutta which was like taking coals to Newcastle, but there was a famine in India at the time. Rangoon was rather a fine city, whilst there we visited the Grand Shawe Pagoda covered in gold leaf and dedicated to Buddha and which can be seen for miles out at sea. Whilst loading rice the ship was infested with all sorts of insects, cockroaches as big as the top of ones thumb, large spiders and even scorpions.
The run to Calcutta was uneventful until we picked up the famous Hoogli Pilot. I believe all these pilots were either ex Conway or Worcester boys and for sheer swank I do not think I have ever seen anything or anybody to equal them. He brings aboard his own cook, valet and leadsman and in his immaculate whites was quite an ornament to the bridge, but I must say that when the leadsman was chanting in Hindustani. Calcutta was quite the most modern city we had so far struck. We visited Fort William Church where the rifle racks were still there a reminder of the Indian mutiny. The afternoon parade around the Macadam in the carriages of the white people, with them their sais and equipages made a spectacular sight. I had to go into hospital with ear trouble. The hospital was the Presidency General Hospital run by the sisters of St Clewer a Church of England nursing order. Every ship that entered Calcutta paid a Farthing per ton to the hospital which covered all nationalities. Whilst there a tea planter from Assam was brought in suffering from overweight he weighed 27 stone and he enlivened us by story of how he traveled. It appears the top was taken off a guards van and he was hoisted in by a crane like those seen in railway stations. When he arrived in Calcutta six coolies carried him on a garden seat to the hospital and they had to shore up the bed with wooden blocks.
The ship having gone to Bombay I had to go overland by train to pick her up, this meant traveling two days and nights across northern India. When I arrived at Bombay the ship had just finished unloading and we began to speculate if we should be homeward bound and reckoned we should be home for Christmas. Next day the captain came aboard and we were crestfallen when he informed us we were to go to lightship to Bunbury in Western Australia to load Yarrah wood for New Zealand.
We loaded 6500 tons of timber and made our way to Freemantle to bunker. At that time they called Free mantle “Dog Town” why I do not know. Whilst at Freemantle I had a chance to go to Perth and was shown the civic buildings, the stonework around the façade on the top of the building were in the shape of a hangman’s noose and the broad arrow, it was said the architect was a convict.
Soon after leaving Freemantle, half way across the great Bight of Australia the coal coming from the bunkers was found to be very hot. Some days after smoke was seen coming from the ventilators and it was seen that the bunkers were on fire. We tried digging into the bunker to find the seat of the fire but it was soon apparent that the fire had too great a hold and it was decided to put into Melbourne. We arrived in Melbourne on Boxing Day 26th December 1913. The fire brigade came down but they could make no impression so a tug came alongside and practically filled the bunker with water. The fire out, now the bunker had to be cleaned out and we had to rebunker, this meant an enjoyable stay in Melbourne for about ten days.
Away again we arrived in Aukland which has a magnificent harbour. We discharge one third of our cargo there then left for Wellington.
One Sunday morning everything was quiet with one or two people fishing from the pier to which we were moored, suddenly there was a very bad earthquake which lasted for a few seconds. The large cranes that were discharging us jumped and danced around like drunken men and we quite thought that they would topple on us. It was an awe- inspiring experience but luckily the damage was not great and no lives were lost. There always seemed to be a wind blowing in Wellington and they used to say that you could tell a Wellington man as he always walked holding onto his hat. We discharged another third of our cargo here and left for Dunedin the most southerly town in New Zealand.
This was a typical Scottish town with Scottish names on most of the shops. It was here I saw a sight which I do not think will ever been seen again, it was a huge farm wagon drawn by eight span of oxen driven by an old timer with a beard almost down to his waist. We finished and as we had been away for about twelve months the ships bottom was very dirty with barnacles and weed that all the speed we could muster was 7 knots .We were ordered to sail to Sydney to have the ships bottom scraped and repainted.
Sydney was a much different town to Melbourne more like an old colonial town. The harbor was magnificent and enormous, as large as the Bristol Channel. To get from one place to another you took a ferry and when they were lit up at night crossing the harbor they were a pretty sight.
We bunkered to our fullest capacity as we were going to a small island called Makatia in the Society Group in the south pacific. On our way to Makatia we passed close to Pitcairn Island but we had no chance to go ashore. When we arrived we had to tie up to a buoy of which we were told was the deepest anchored buoy in the world 350 fathoms.
Makatia was an island of phosphate under French domination. The mining of the phosphate was undertaken by a French company. The mining was done by Japanese labour and loaded into barges manned by kanakas natives of the island. These barges were then towed out to us and the contents manhandled into the holds. This was an idyllic place no snakes, poisonous insects, scorpions or anything dangerous. There were thousands of land crabs which were quite harmless and fed on coconuts. Palms grew to a height of 120/130 feet. There were also oranges, lemons, guavas and papipias .We were invited to lunch one Sunday at the mess room belonging to the company, and a seven course luncheon was served with wine that would not have been amiss at any of the best European hotels. Loading by barge was a slow job and it was a month before we were ready to leave.
Now for the last run home and we knew that the sweethearts of England were on the towline and we hoped for a good run home. Our course was across the pacific through the straights of Magellan and into the Atlantic. When we arrived at the entrance to the strait’s a big sea was running and as our steering gear was not in good shape the Captain decided to go around the famous Cape Horn as we were in steam we did not have much trouble rounding.
Up the east coast of South America and into Rio de Janeiro where we took in bunkers but we had no chance to go ashore. Across the Atlantic to Malaga in Spain where we were bound with our cargo of phosphates. After discharging we loaded iron ore for Antwerp and as we were loaded by mule carts this took about three weeks.
A good run up to Antwerp. I went to Antwerp Cathedral to see the magnificent paintings by Reubens and others; the priceless one was "the descent of Christ from the cross". Whilst in Antwerp we were having a fairly big overhaul and suddenly we were ordered to box up and sail for Birkenhead.
When we picked up the Liverpool Pilot he told us we were at war with Germany. We were paid off in Birkenhead and so ended what was supposed to be a three months voyage which ran into a year and nine months and took us around the world.
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