The entangled ships Ditton, Port Crawford and Peeblesshire in Newcastle Harbour, April 1902.
Three ship pile-up in Newcastle Harbour
It was just on dark, April 4, 1902; the weather was taking a turn for the worse, and among the fleet of ships that appeared off Newcastle, NSW, hoping to enter harbour, was one of the world's biggest three-masters, the 311-foot-long (95m) Ditton. The harbour, apparently, was already reasonably crowded, and there were two fully laden ships - The Port Crawford and the Peeblesshire - tied up at the so-called "farewell buoys" in the channel, ready to leave next day. It was a situation fraught with danger and, unfortunately, the danger was not avoided. The Ditton…