'Cumberland', 1917

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The only enemy action that occurred in Australia and against Australia in World War I occurred on the South Coast of New South Wales. On the morning of 6th July 1917 the SS 'Cumberland', a cargo ship bound for England and laden with war materials, struck a mine off the coast between Merimbula and Eden. This mine had been laid by a German Raider, the 'Wolf'*

The crew of the 'Cumberland' abandoned ship, expecting her to sink. But ten of the
men later reboarded the ship and nursed it on to a beach on Gabo Island.

Temporary repairs were made to the hull of the vessel and an attempt was made to tow it into Twofold Bay. However, the 30 foot-long patch along the side of the vessel (consisting of four layers of canvas with wool packed between them) shifted and the 'Cumberland' sank 15 miles off Eden on 11th August 1917. (It has been suggested the repairs were inadequate - see Recollections 51)

“It was a thrilling sight, the sinking of the Cumberland. She went down bow first, just like the Lusitania…as the vessel rose again slowly the propellers were seen. Again she sank, but on the next lift the watchers saw right under her. Finally, higher and higher rose the stern, and with a hissing, rushing sound, the Cumberland, almost vertical, rushed headlong to the bottom, disappearing amidst a rush of boiling, bubbling waters, rising 50ft above the sea.” ('Southern Star', 18.8.1917)

(1,852 tons of copper, zinc and brass ingots were recovered from the wreck in 1952.)

The story of the sinking of the 'Cumberland' is itself an interesting part of our history – but the most interesting aspect of the incident is how it was subsequently reported.

Prime Minister Billy Hughes was, at the time, attempting to introduce conscription in Australia to supply sufficient troops to replace the enormous losses that the Australian army had suffered in the Gallipoli campaign and on the Western Front. He was, in particular, waging a campaign against left-wing (and anti-conscriptionist) organisations such as the Australian branch of the International Workers of the World. So, when news was received that the 'Cumberland' had hit a sea mine, an immediate ban was imposed on the press reporting the incident while the government examined the ‘facts’ before announcing, three days later, that the 'Cumberland' had been
damaged by an explosion that had occurred in the ship’s cargo holds. This was in spite of it being rapidly determined that the 'Cumberland' had been holed as a result of an explosion outside of the vessel.

The explosion ‘on board’ the 'Cumberland' was attributed to ‘traitors’ who had loaded the ship’s cargo in Townsville, Bowen and Sydney.

The Sydney 'Sun' offered a reward of £1,000 for the “conviction and punishment of the chief criminals.” This was followed by offers of rewards of £1,000 from the NSW Government, £2,000 by the Australian Government, £1,000 by the British Board of Trade and £1,000 by the Queensland Government – each of these rewards reinforcing the Australian Government’s assertion that the 'Cumberland' had been sunk as the result of the work of ‘traitors.’

The Minister for the Navy, Joseph Cook, when questioned in Parliament about the incident, further perpetuated the government’s deliberate mistruths: “the investigating officer had specially requested that no information should be published until he had completed his investigation. Everything pointed to foul play. He hoped that they would catch the fiends and punish them.”

The story of sabotage by ‘traitors’ was then to assume a life of its own.

Even those who conducted a maritime enquiry and Australian navy officials - despite compelling evidence to the contrary – had great difficulty accepting any explanation other than the 'Cumberland' had been damaged by traitors working on the Australian wharves.

(However, the inquiry ultimately reported “the results of the investigations show conclusively that a mine was responsible for the damage.”

But this finding, in turn, led to calls for the internment of Germans and those with German heritage, who were living in Australia – the suggestion being that the mine had been laid by German sympathisers living in Australia!

The Melbourne 'Argus' suggested “it was apparent that mingling with local citizens are men either in the pay of Germany or associated with an unlawful organisation (the International Workers of the World had by then been declared an unlawful organisation) doing all they can to injure the industrial and commercial interests of the Empire.”

The Sydney 'Mirror' went further, observing “the loss of the Cumberland behoves the authorities to be suspiciously on the alert. Nothing short of wholesale internment will allay public anxiety.”)

Information publicised about the 'Cumberland’s' cargo was also a somewhat misleading:

“WAR CHEST GOODS
The hon. secretary of the Citizens’ War Chest Fund stated yesterday that 9,600 pairs of socks and about 108 cases of milk, shirts, etc., from the War Chest Fund, were shipped in the Cumberland. Fortunately these were all insured. In addition, the fund had shipped in the same vessel 62 cases from battalions’ comforts funds. The socks were portion of those received in response to the recent appeal.”

The local Candelo newspaper, the 'Southern Record and Advertiser' (which, incidentally, adopted a more-independent attitude to the War than most other newspapers of the time), presented a more accurate report of the incident:

“The S.S. Cumberland’s disaster off Gabo Island has a nasty look, like a Hun outrage – a hole 22 x 11 ft. was blown in her side, and a diver who went down to examine it reckons it was blown from the outside.”

The authors of 'The Wolf' describe this deliberate government misinformation campaign as “a cautionary glimpse of how easily the press and the public can be manipulated towards xenophobic hatred when governments wield enormous powers of censorship and propaganda.”

The 'Wolf' actually laid 30 mines off the NSW South Coast. It took some time for the government to admit there were mines in the area and to organise minesweepers to search the area. Several exploded when they drifted on to the coast, causing some concern to locals.

The 'Southern Record and Advertiser' described one incident:

“Reported that over a dozen mines have been picked up in the vicinity of Gabo. One brought up recently got away and finally drifted ashore near Black Head, where a number of men are camped procuring grass tree gum. When the mine hit the rocks, about midnight, it exploded, throwing pieces over 200 yards inland, many of which fell on the camp, and the men thought the enemy was bombing them. Needless to say there was a general stampede of men and horses.”

• The story of the 'Wolf' is, in itself, a fascinating story and is told in a book ‘The
  Wolf. How one German raider terrorized Australia and the Southern Oceans in the First World War’ by Richard Guilliatt and Peter Hohnen. The Wolf was sent on a suicide mission to inflict damage on Allied shipping and, over a 15-month period, it travelled 64,000 miles, sunk 16 vessels and captured another 14 ships, before returning to Germany with over 400 prisoners on board.

Further information:
“The Wolf” by Richard Guilliatt and Peter Hohnen
“The Unreal Story of World War I and the NSW South Coast” by Peter Lacey