["Sea yields our Titanic", The Weekend Australian (Canberra, ACT), 17-18 July 1999, pages 1,4]
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Their relative, Josiah Ilbery, whose family settled in Sydney, was the experienced captain of the Waratah, the flagship of the Blue Anchor Line. The vessel had 100 first-class cabins, eight state rooms and a lavish saloon, featuring panels depicting the flower after which it was named.
But when it was cheered off by a huge crowd from Adelaide on July 1, 1909, for only its second voyage, Captain Ilbery had already voiced concerns that the boat was "stiff", meaning she took too long to recover from a roll in heavy seas.
The Waratah was last seen on July 27, the day after it left Durban, bound for Capetown and then Southampton, England. It exchanged lantern signals with a cargo ship, the Clan Macintyre, before steaming out of sight.
The storm blowing that night was described by the captain of the Clan Macintyre as the worst he had faced, with 20-metre waves and deep troughs.
The state of the wreck of the Waratah shows that it was trying to steer out of the storm when it disappeared, almost literally, into a hole in the sea.
This is a condition unique to Africa's east coast. It is caused when the powerful Agulhas current runs into a gale and heavy swell coming up from the south-west.
The combination of gale and current forces the crests of the swells together. Charts for the area warn sailors: "Abnormal waves of up to 20 metres in height, preceded by a deep trough, may be encountered."
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