John Brand Martin and a Missing Dredger 1906

John Brand Martin was born in Fife, Scotland in 1857, and died in Durban in 1926. He was sent to Australia in 1910 to give evidence at a court hearing regarding a little-known event of a dredger that disappeared without trace between Durban and Australia. This is how it was reported in Lloyd's List 27 Dec 1906:

A MISSING DREDGER

Sydney Nov 30

All hope for the safety of the [steam] suction dredger Walrus has been

abandoned.  She is now nearly 100 days out from Durban and even should

she still be afloat, her crew must long since have been starved and her

coal supplies completely exhausted.  Having been bought in South Africa

for the Geelong Harbour Trust, the vessel sailed from Durban on Aug 13

for Geelong via Western Australia with 653 [? indistinct] tons of coal

and a stock of provisions sufficient to maintain her crew of 23 hands

for 60 days.  Just before commencing this voyage the master [Capt

McDonald] intimated his intention of following the course of latitude

29S and to make for Fremantle or Albany to replenish supplies of coal

and food.

Since leaving Durban, however, the Walrus has not been spoken or

reported.  Under ordinary conditions the little vessel should have

reached Western Australia within 50 days.  This period expired several

weeks ago.  Taken in connexion with the loss of the dredger Octopus,

which was also bought from the Natal Government by the Geelong Harbour

Trust, and which sprang a leak a few hours after leaving Durban on Oct

13, and was abandoned, three lives being sacrificed, an opinion is

expressed in shipping circles generally that dredgers of the Walrus and

Octopus class were never intended for a long sea voyage, and that they

should have been prevented from sailing from South Africa for Australia.

The wreck was never found. 

More about J B Martin:

Martin J B: Port Captain's Dept. Assistant Superintendent of Machinery.
Started Oct 16 1889. £350 pa.
Martin, John Brand - First engineer of dredger "Otter", 16th October, 1889;
tug, "Richard King," 1st April 1900; assistant superintendent of machinery,
port department, 1st July, 1902; admitted to civil service 30th November,
1895.

Acknowledgements: Jill Martin


Additional information from Trove:

THE MISSING DREDGER

WALRUS.

LIST OF THE CREW.

Melbourne, October 29 1906

The chairman of the Geelong Harbor

Trust to-day received a cablegram stating

that the following persons were on board

the dredger Walrus, which left Durban on

August 13 and has not been sighted since:

Alexander McDonald, Lewis Jones,

George Mitchell, J. Webb, F. Watkins, A.

Buckingham, Alexander Gilmore, Alex-

ander Allan, William Hosking, A. Fullar-

ton, G. Keally, George Watt, R. Middle-

ton, John Dunn, Robert McCallum, H.

Keyton, and Carl Axen.

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5109841