City of Singapore - explosion

On a voyage from the UK for the USA with a cargo of automobiles, motor parts, tractors oil, kerosene, petrol & a total crew of 67 City of Singapore arrived at No. 2 Quay, Port Adelaide on 24 April 1924. Australia was not on her original ports of call but the SS Kansas, which was supposed to pick up a cargo for South Africa, had caught fire at Brisbane so City of Singapore made the call instead. By the afternoon of 26 April some of her cargo had been off-loaded & the grain & wheat for South Africa loaded.  Work had finished for the day & there were just 3 watchmen aboard when smoke was seen coming from the ventilators but before anything could be done there was an explosion which popped the hatches of No. 4 hold. The fire brigade was immediately called & the Port Adelaide and Semaphore brigades & the firefloat attended. Because of the intensity of the fire the Wakefield Street brigade was also called. Having done their work & the fire now seemingly out some of the firemen were ready to leave as they thought the damger was now over. The master ordered the 5^th engineer to open the valves, flood the hold & cut off the steam which was being done with the help of some of the firemen. No-one realized that the heat from the fire had released gas & coal dust in the coalbunker below. About 10.30pm there was another explosion which ripped through the ship, tore open the deck & threw debris into the air, through the walls of the wharf shed & onto the road. The deck of the firefloat was damaged by a flying case of petrol. The firefighters with the help of volunteers attacked the blaze & rescued those that were injured. 3 of the firemen had lost their lives, one was taken from the vessel but died of head injuries, one was incinerated on deck & only small fragments of his body were found the third man’s body was never recovered as he had fallen into the seat of the fire. There was also a number of men were injured.

The Royal Humane Society of Australiasia presented medals & certificates to crew members & volunteers who assisted. A bronze plaque commemorating the bravery of the firemen who died was placed at the fire brigade headquarters in Adelaide. This was later relocated to the foyer of the new headquarters building of the South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service in Wakefield Street. There is also a memorial statue in the likeness of George Anderson standing in Cheltenham Cemetery above a headstone commemorating George Anderson & James Hickey.

Lives lost April 1924: Anderson, George James Alexander; Greenman, Albert, Semaphore Unit; Hickey, James.

Injured April 1924: Anthony, Laurence; Bentwell, William; Booth, Thomas; Cornish, F; Easton, George Stuart; Key, Jack; McKay, Charles; Moore, Martin; Oayang, Mamud; Ryan, Patrick; Ryan, William; Sayers, Henry; Walsh, John.

The hull of the City of Singapore was not damaged so she was stripped & towed to the North Arm of the Port River. She was bought by a Dutch salvage company & on 11 April 1925 was towed to Rotterdam arriving 5 months later to be repaired & then repurchased by Ellerman Lines.

Related items :