SS EASTERN voyage report no. 25

DateDecember 1955 - March 1956

Object numberANMS1340[028]

NameVoyage report

MediumPaper

DimensionsOverall: 341 x 211 mm

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from the family of Burnham Walker Dun

DescriptionTyped voyage report number 25 for SS EASTERN, written by Commander Burnham Walker Dun, of The Eastern & Australian Steamship Co Limited, to Messrs Macdonald Hamilton & Co, Managing Agents for The Eastern & Australian Steamship Co. Limited. The report is dated 29th December 1955, Yokohama. Pages 1 to 10 of the report outlines details of the voyage, including departure times, cargo, maintenance and other relevant information, from Port Adelaide to Kobe. This is followed by a continuation of the report for the SS EASTERN voyage number 25, dated 20 February 1956, Sydney. Pages 1 to 8 give details of the return voyage, from Kobe to Sydney, with additional general notes (i.e. relating to passengers, cargo, accidents, etc). This is followed by a continuation of the report for the SS EASTERN voyage number 23, dated 5th March 1956, Port Adelaide. Pages 1 to 2 give details of the return voyage, from Sydney to Adelaide, with additional general notes (i.e. relating to passengers, cargo, accidents, etc). Next is a note from Commander Dun to Messrs Macdonald Hamilton & Co, Managing Agents for The Eastern & Australian Steamship Co. Limited. Dated 5th March 1956. In it, Dun writes that attached is a statement of averages, daily consumption, slip, average speed, average revolutions and weather for voyage 25. The statement itself immediately follows; SS EASTERN voyage 25 / Averages between ports. This is followed by a statement titled SS EASTERN voyage 25 / Averages between ports, which contains calculations of the amount of fuel used outwards inwards, and during the round voyage. Finally is a letter from Commander Dun to Messrs Macdonald Hamilton & Co, Managing Agents for The Eastern & Australian Steamship Co. Limited. Dated 28th December 1955. Dun reports damage to the EASTERN due to heavy seas and swell during the passage from Hong Kong to Yokkaichi. HistoryBurnham Walker Dun 1905-1992 began his apprenticeship with the Australasian Steam Navigation Company in 1921 when he was just short of his 16th birthday. After four years in the coastal ships of AUSN he gained his Second Mate's certificate in Sydney and joined the Eastern & Australian Steamship Company (E&A) as Fourth Officer on the TANDA. He served 43 years with this Company sailing to ports between Australia and eastern Asia, retiring in 1967. He gained his Master's Certificate in 1929, at the age of 24. In 1942, when he was Chief Officer on the NANKIN, the ship was captured by the German raider THOR. He spent the rest of the war with the surviving crew labouring in Japanese POW camps. He returned to Australia in poor health and spent years trying to get compensation. Although he was an Australian resident employed by an Australian company (managing agents Macdonald Hamilton) the ship was British owned and registered, and he obtained only limited compensation. He went back to sea with E&A in 1946, had his first permanent command in 1947 on the second NANKIN, and served in the company's ships EASTERN, NELLORE, ARAFURA and ARAMAC until he retired. During this time he carried cargo regularly to Japan, where he established friendly relationships with his former captors. During his career he made a number of rescues at sea and survived several severe typhoons. On retirement, he became a Nautical Assessor and took part in marine Courts of Enquiry, including the enquiry into the collapse of the Tasman Bridge, caused by the cargo ship LAKE ILLAWARRA striking one of the bridge's piers. E & A Line actually consisted of four successive companies bearing the same name, Eastern and Australian Steam Ship Company, between 1873 and the early 1980s. It was established to serve routes between Australasia and 'Far Eastern' ports - Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan, and was originally named Eastern & Australian Mail Steam Company Limited. It only ever had a small fleet of ships but those it had, such as the NELLORE and the NANKIN, were well known. Ownership of E&A Line was involved in other companies in the 20th century, notably the AUSN Company, and from 1946 P&O. Through its history E & A Lines carried cargo and passengers, and was involved in trooping and supply in World War I. In World War II its entire fleet of three of its ships was lost. In the post-war period it operated cargo-passenger ships until 1975 when passenger service was given up and the ships were progressively sold, though in 1983 it continued to staff and operate AJCL containerships. The Eastern & Australian Steamship CompanySignificanceW Olson, 'Lion of the China Sea: a History of the E & A Line', 1976.

G A Hardwick, 'E & A Line - the Eastern and Australian Steam Ship Company Limited', The Log, volume 16, number 1, issue 71, February 1983, pp 3 - 12.

Notes provided by Ian Farquhar-Smith, on file