SS ''Iron Chieftain'' was a

bulk carrier A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially naval architecture, designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo—such as Grain trade, grain, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement—in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrie ...

that was built in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in 1937 for the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n Broken Hill Pty, Ltd (BHP) to carry

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

. A Japanese submarine sank her by torpedo off the coast of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

in 1942, killing 12 of her crew. Her wreck is protected by the Australian federal

Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018 The ''Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018'' is an Australian Act of Parliament designed "to protect shipwrecks, sunken aircraft and their associated artefacts, that occurred 75 or more years ago, regardless of whether their location is know ...

Building

In 1936 and 1937

Lithgows Lithgows Limited is a family-owned Scottish company that had a long involvement in shipbuilding, based in Kingston, Port Glasgow, on the River Clyde in Scotland. It has a continued involvement in marine resources. History Founding The Company ...

Port Glasgow Port Glasgow (, ) is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most recent census in 2011 s ...

built four

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...

s for BHP. ''Iron Baron'' and ''Iron King'' were launched in 1936. and ''Iron Chieftain'' were launched in 1937. ''Iron Chieftain'' was launched in 22 October and completed in December. The four ships shared a similar layout, with a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

and main superstructure amidships and

engine room On a ship, the engine room (ER) is the Compartment (ship), compartment where the machinery for marine propulsion is located. The engine room is generally the largest physical compartment of the machinery space. It houses the vessel's prime move ...

and

funnel A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its constructi ...

aft. All four ships had the same beam of and depth of . ''Iron Knight'' and ''Iron Chieftain'' had a registered length of , which was longer than ''Iron Baron'' and ''Iron King''. ''Iron Chieftain''s

tonnage Tonnage is a measure of the capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on '' tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically refers to a cal ...

s were and . A Lithgows' subsidiary, David Rowan and Co of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, built the engines for all four sisters. Each ship had a single

screw A screw is an externally helical threaded fastener capable of being tightened or released by a twisting force (torque) to the screw head, head. The most common uses of screws are to hold objects together and there are many forms for a variety ...

, driven by a quadruple-expansion steam engine, supplemented by an exhaust

steam turbine A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...

driving a steam compressor. The exhaust turbine drove the same shaft as the piston engine. Between them, ''Iron Chieftain''s piston engine and exhaust turbine were rated at 553 NHP and gave her a speed of . BHP

registered Registered may refer to: * Registered mail, letters, packets or other postal documents considered valuable and in need of a chain of custody * Registered trademark symbol, symbol ® that provides notice that the preceding is a trademark or service ...

''Iron Chieftain'' in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. Her UK

official number Official numbers are ship identifier numbers assigned to merchant ships by their flag state, country of registration. Each country developed its own official numbering system, some on a national and some on a port-by-port basis, and the formats hav ...

was 159570 and her

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

was VLJY.

Second World War

''Iron Chieftain'' carried iron ore in Australian coastal waters. Japanese submarines attacked shipping in Australian waters, and particularly off the coast of New South Wales. Ore carriers acquired a reputation as "death ships" because the density of their cargo caused them to sink too quickly for their crew to launch lifeboats. Life-rafts were fitted on sloping skids to be launched quickly. At 1100 hrs on 3 June 1942 ''Iron Chieftain'' left

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

, laden with coke and materials for shipbuilding for shipyards at

Whyalla Whyalla is a city in South Australia. It was founded as Hummock's Hill, and was known by that name until 1916. It is the fourth most populous city in the Australian state of South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier, and Gawler, and along ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. That evening a heavy swell forced her to limit her speed to about . At 2240 hrs that night she was about east of Manly, NSW when a torpedo fired by hit her port side amidships. She sank quickly, and 12 of her crew were killed. ''Iron Chieftain''s crew launched her starboard lifeboat, with her Second Officer, Philip Brady, in command and carrying 24 other survivors. Another 12 crew survived on one of her life-rafts. On 4 June was sent from

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

to search for survivors and found the 12 survivors on the life-raft. At 1800 hrs on 4 June the lifeboat reached land at

The Entrance, New South Wales The Entrance is a coastal town in the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the Central Coast Council (New South Wales), Central Coast Council Local government areas of New South Wales ...

. After the loss of ''Iron Chieftain'' on 3 June and another BHP ship, , on 4 June, convoys were introduced along the coast between New South Wales,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

and

. On 8 June Convoy CO 1 left Newcastle for Whyalla, and on 10 June Convoy OC 1 left Melbourne for Newcastle.

Monument

The Newcastle Merchant Mariners Memorial, outside

Newcastle railway station Newcastle station (also known as Newcastle Central and locally as Central Station) is a railway station in Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom. It is located on the East Coast Main Line, around north of . It ...

, includes the names of the 12 members of the crew who were killed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iron Chieftain 1937 ships 1942 in Australia Maritime incidents in June 1942 Ships built on the River Clyde Ships of BHP Shipping Ships sunk by Japanese submarines Shipwrecks of the Sydney Eastern Suburbs Region Steamships of Australia World War II merchant ships of Australia World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean