Amy was a brig used in the coastal shipping trade of New South Wales. On 13 February 1898, while working as a sixty-miler collier, she was wrecked on a sandbar off the beach at Thirroul, during a gale. All her crew died. There is a memorial at Thirroul Beach.

Description Amy was built by Thomas Davis at Terrigal in 1872. He was one of the Davis family of shipbuilders, who between them ran eight shipyards and built over 300 wooden vessels up to 1913.

She was 107 feet long, 26 feet across the beam, her hold 11 feet deep, and 220 tons gross capacity. She was constructed of hardwood timber, with kauri pine decking, and had a carved figurehead. She was rigged as a brig, with square-rigged sails on two masts. Like many sailing vessels of the time, she was fitted with a small steam donkey engine that powered her winch and pumps.

Her compliment was eight in total, consisting of a captain, a mate, a cook, a winchman / donkeyman, and four able seamen.

Her identification number was 64403. In 1898, she was insured for £1,000.

Service history and incidents

Inter-colonial trade A report from late January 1873 mentions that, "The fine new colonial brig Amy, belonging to Mr. Cox, will leave forthwith for Adelaide." In October 1874, she was carrying a load of potatoes from the Duck River, in Tasmania, to Sydney. In August and December 1876, carried cargoes of sawn timber from 'Wangaroa' (Whangaroa), in New Zealand. She carried a cargo of wheat from Port Pirie to Sydney, in 1877.

Coastal coal trade

In June 1880, Amy was purchased by Wartburton & Sons, of Pyrmont, Sydney, to replace their schooner, Lady Emma, which had been wrecked at North Head. and was thereafter a coastal collier, on the run between Newcastle and Sydney. She was carrying coal from Wollongong, in 1894. In 1896, she was carrying coal from the ports of Wollongong and Bellambi.

Collisions

City of Grafton (1886) Just after 9 p.m. in the evening of 9 February 1886, Amy collided with the fore-and-aft schooner-rigged iron paddle steamer City of Grafton, near Miller's Point, in Sydney Harbour. Amy was inbound, with a cargo of coal from Newcastle. City of Grafton was outbound for Grafton.Amy lost her jib boom, when she struck the much larger City of Grafton, between the paddle box and the stern, carrying away the rail and two of the paddle steamer's boats. The steamer lowered a boat to inspect the damage; both ships' hulls were undamaged. After her crew failed to find the missing boats, City of Grafton continued on her voyage. Amy declined assistance and then anchored in Johnson's Bay.

There was a Marine Board inquiry. The taking of evidence was completed on 1 March 1886. The board found no grounds to bring a charge of default—negligence, failure of duty regarding collisions, or misconduct—against any party.

Dingadee (1888) Amy was involved in another collision, this time with an A.U.S.N steamer, Dingadee, on 6 March 1888. Amy was in Darling Harbour, getting underway, and being towed by a tug, when Dingadee rounded Millers Point. The vessels tried to avoid collision, but Dingadee struck Amy just behind her foremast rigging. Damage to Amy was described as "pretty considerable", and the force of impact such that "it caused her to list, which nearly had the effect of throwing the crew off their legs", but nobody was injured. The Marine Board found that Captain James McKee of Amy had been at fault—Amy had been on the wrong side of the fairway, when Dingadee's masts first became visible—however, Captain McKee received only a reprimand.

'A southern steam collier' (1895) On 29 November 1895, in Wooloomooloo Bay, a southern steam collier fouled Amy's rigging and "carried away part of her foremast".

Accidents

Seaman's fall (1883) On 22 December 1883, while Amy was off Nobby's, a seaman fell from the rigging, landing on his head. Amy returned to port immediately. The seaman "sustained concussion of the brain, and has remained insensible in the hospital ever since."

Captain injured (1888) Amy's captain "James McGee" [sic] (McKee) survived a serious accident aboard the vessel, on 17 November 1888. Amy was in the river port of Hexham, and a cargo of iron rails was being unloaded. The Captain was guiding a load of rails out of the hold, when the fingers of one his hands became caught in a hoisting block. When he tried to use the other hand, to extricate his trapped hand, it too became caught in the block. He was then "hoisted about eight feet above the deck, from which height he fell upon his face and hands into the hold, striking the rails with great force in his descent." Partially-conscious, with many lacerations, and with badly crushed fingers, he was placed on a passing river steamer and taken to Raymond Terrace for medical treatment.

Near misses

Wollongong (1887) Amy was approaching the harbour of Wollongong, at around 6 p.m. on 19 September 1887. The port authorities had raised the red ball signal, to indicate that it was unsafe to attempt to enter the port, due to the large seas that were running at the time. "Captain McGee" [sic] (McKee) raised a flag requesting that a tug tow Amy into port, but the pilot, Thompson, would not let a tug go out because of the conditions. Amy's captain brought her into the harbour under sail, at risk of going onto the rocks. Aware of the risk of being wrecked, the crew had stripped off their clothing to be ready to go into the water. The captain was reported to have said that he had not seen the red ball signal from outside the harbour, or otherwise he would not have entered the port. As one report stated, "All's well that ends well!", but it had been a risky, if skilful, piece of navigation.

North Head It was reported that the pilot boat had assisted Amy at North Head, where she had been "plucked from the rocks ... just in time".

Newcastle (1895) Amy was under tow by Energy, in September 1895, when the towline broke while she was off the Big Ben reef, near Nobbys, at the mouth of the Hunter River. She had a narrow escape, but was taken in tow by a tug and safely entered port.

Groundings

Near Lake Macquarie (1884) In the morning of 27 June 1884, Amy was en route between Sydney and Newcastle, when she ran aground on a shoal near the entrance to Lake Macquarie. She was freed and continued to Newcastle.

Near Cronulla (1896) During the night of Tuesday 9 June 1896, Amy was carrying a load of 320 tons of coal from Wollongong to Botany. There were what was described as "incessant rain squalls along the coast." By midnight, visibility was poor and the lighthouse at South Head had not been sighted. The Cape Baily Light did not exist at that time. North of Cronulla, the direction of the coast line changes gradually, from generally north-south to generally east-west, before once again becoming generally north-south. Amy was steered to the same heading as she had followed many times before, but unknowingly the ship was closer to the coast than prudent. The swell was from the east.

During the subsequent inquiry, Captain McKee stated that he had gone below, and upon returning to the deck had seen land, which he at first took to be Botany. A lead line was cast and the brig was found to be in 20 fathoms of water. Soon, it was in only nine fathoms, at which point both anchors were dropped, but it was too late to avoid grounding.

At around 3 a.m. on Wednesday, 10 June 1896, Amy ran aground. The location was described as being about "a mile from the hotel", corresponding in modern day naming to the northern part of Wanda Beach or the southern part of Greenhills Beach. Using the anchored lines an unsuccessful attempt was made to free the vessel. Waves were breaking over the vessel, and fearing for the lives of his crew, the Captain ordered the crew into two boats. The boats stood safely away from the shore, near where Amy had lodged, until daylight. As the sea was too rough to safely reboard Amy while she was grounded, they commenced to row to the shelter of Port Hacking, where they safely landed at around 9 a.m. At 11 a.m., a telegram arrived in Sydney reading, "Amy went ashore on Cronulla Beach at 3 a.m. in a thick fog. She can be got off if assistance sent promptly."

The tug, Commodore, and the pilot vessel, Captain Cook, left Sydney Heads, around midday, reaching Amy at around 1 p.m. The tug Swansea also headed south. They found the vessel abandoned, with all sails set, and bumping heavily in the surf. Four men boarded Amy, and found 3 foot of water in the hold, indicating that Amy was leaking. A tow line each was then attached from both Commodore and Captain Cook and after about half an hour, Amy came free. There ensued a delay of around one and a half hours, while steam was raised to power the steam winch to lift Amy's anchors. During that time—about half an hour after Amy was freed—Amy's crew arrived in two boats from Port Hacking. The crew started to work the pumps. In tow by the two tugs, Amy arrived at Pyrmont, at 7:30 p.m., with her pumps having been run continuously during the trip.

There was a subsequent Marine Board inquiry, but no further action was taken as the board "were satisfied that the captain and crew had done all in their power to save the brig."

Having survived the grounding, Amy went into the dock of David Drake at Balmain, and her copper was removed, she was re-caulked, re-treenailed, and new copper was fitted. After 1896, the brig had two other visits to the same dock, the last being in December 1897.

Wreck (1898)

Wreck and rescue attempts Amy left Wollongong bound for Sydney, with a cargo of 310 tons of coal, at around 7 a.m. on Sunday, 13 February 1898. She carried a crew of eight. Initially conditions were fine, but at around 11 a.m. a strong south-easterly gale sprang up unexpectedly.

Captain Bray, of the schooner Garron, lost sight of Amy, at 1 p.m., when the brig was about a mile off Bulli Point and on a course away from the coast, "in the teeth of a gale". Why Amy had taken so long to reach Bulli cannot be known, but one theory is that she had turned south for a time, to assist the crew of the schooner, Malcolm.

Later that afternoon, Amy went aground off Thirroul Beach, close to the mouth of Flanagan's Creek. Sources vary, stating 4 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 5 p.m., or 6 p.m. as the time of the grounding. There was a strong E.S.E. wind blowing and it was raining heavily. If Bray's report is correct, Amy had made little progress north, but her crew had struggled to keep away from the coast, for at least three hours, before losing their battle with the gale.