A Ship’s Graveyard

Before dawn on June 1, 1878, the clipper Loch Ard sailed through thick mist toward Victoria’s coastline. The mist had lingered from the previous day and had hampered the captain’s noon sextant sighting. As a result, he was much nearer the coast of mainland Australia than he thought. Suddenly, the mist lifted to reveal sheer cliffs, 300 feet [90 m] high, just a mile [2 km] away. The crew worked frantically to turn the ship, but wind and tide conspired against them. In less than an hour, the Loch Ard struck a reef with a great crash and sank 15 minutes later.

Of the 54 people aboard, only two survived​—ship’s apprentice Tom Pearce and passenger Eva Carmichael, both under 20 years of age. Tom clung for hours to an upturned lifeboat in the cold winter waters. Finally, the tide swept him into a narrow gorge between the cliffs. Seeing a small beach littered with wreckage, he swam to safety. Eva could not swim, so she clung to wreckage for about four hours before being swept into the same gorge. Seeing Tom on the beach, she cried for help. Tom plunged into the surf and, after struggling for an hour, dragged a now semiconscious Eva ashore. She related: “He took me into a wild-looking cave a few hundred feet [more than 50 m] from the beach and finding a case of brandy, broke a bottle and made me swallow some, which revived me. He pulled some long grass and shrubs for me to lie on. I soon sank into a state [of] unconsciousness and must have remained so for hours.” Meanwhile, Tom climbed the cliff and raised the alarm. Less than 24 hours after the Loch Ard sank, Tom and Eva were taken to a nearby homestead. Eva had lost both her parents and her five siblings​—three brothers and two sisters—​in the wreck.

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WHAT BECAME OF TOM AND EVA?

Tom Pearce and Eva Carmichael, the only survivors of the Loch Ard shipwreck, became instant celebrities in Australia. “Newspapers sensationalised the wreck, hailed Pearce as a hero, Eva Carmichael as a beauty and seemed determined that the two should marry,” says the book Cape Otway​—Coast of Secrets. Although Tom proposed, Eva declined his offer and three months later returned to Ireland. There she married and raised a family. She died in 1934 at 73 years of age. Tom returned to sea and was promptly shipwrecked a second time. Again he survived. After working for many years as a master of steamships, he died in 1909 at the age of 50.

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Both photos: Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, Warrnambool

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After crashing onto a reef, the “Loch Ard” sank in 15 minutes

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La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria

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Port Campbell National Park showing (1) where the “Loch Ard” hit the reef and (2) where Tom Pearce’s cave is located

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Photography Scancolor Australia