["Cablegrams", The Hedland Advocate (Port Hedland, WA), Saturday 04 March 1911]
Waratah Inquiry
Judgment Delivered
Builders and Owners Censured
Vessel 'Tender' On First Voyage
London, February 23.
The judgment of the Court of Inquiry, which recently investigated the circumstances surrounding the loss of the Blue Anchor liner, "Waratah", was delivered today.
The Court decided that the vessel on her final voyage was properly equipped and manned, her cargo was properly stowed, while she had sufficient stability and was in every way seaworthy. It concludes, "The vessel capsized in a gale of unusual violence, the first great storm she encountered."
In discussing F. W. Lund's assurance that Captain Ilbery did not report upon the Waratah's maiden voyage, the Court declared itself unable to understand the Captain's silence concerning the vessel's stability, as it was contrary to the whole practice of shipowners and shipmasters to treat such a matter with the indifference with which Lund and Ilbery appear to have treated it. "The inference, unfavorable to the owners, is greatly strengthened by correspondence between them and the builders. The Court accepts the conclusion that the vessel was 'tender' on her first voyage, and considers neither Lund's nor the builder's account of the interview between them on April 23 complete. We can only leave the matter there."
Lund's use of the word "bluff" in regard to statements made in his letters to the builders was sharply commented upon by the Court.
