Disappearance of the SS Waratah
The new liner Waratah left Durban for Cape Town on 26 July 1909 with 211 people on board and vanished; no wreckage has ever been confirmed.
1909 CE · -31.90, 29.50 · status: unexplained
The account
She was last seen the next day off the Transkei coast by the Clan MacIntyre. One passenger, Claude Sawyer, had left the ship at Durban after a recurring dream of a knight with a bloody sword, and after the loss there were reports of a phantom ship and of bodies in the water. Long searches, including Emlyn Brown's surveys, found other wrecks but not the Waratah.
The sceptical view
The Board of Trade inquiry heard evidence that the ship was top-heavy; she probably capsized in a storm in the Agulhas current, where freak waves are known.
The researched reading
A new liner lost off South Africa. A capsize in a storm in waters famous for freak waves explains it.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A known natural phenomenon | 40% | Witnesses at the inquiry described the ship as top-heavy and slow to right herself; a severe storm in the Agulhas Current, where freak waves meeting the current are well documented, could capsize her suddenly. |
| Undetermined | 34% | The share a generic explanation had beyond what has been shown for this case: it fits many cases like this one, but has not been demonstrated for this one. |
| A cultural story | 10% | Ghost-ship sightings and repeated failed wreck searches have kept a legend alive. |
| Something in the surroundings | 6% | A bunker fire or cargo shift has been proposed as a contributing cause. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 6% | A passenger, Claude Sawyer, left the ship at Durban after disturbing dreams; such premonitions are recalled because the ship was lost. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 2% | No fabrication in the core record. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 2% | A capsize in a storm explains it. |
Official position: The Board of Trade inquiry could not determine the cause; it heard evidence about instability.