Coates then said Mr. Smith told him the previously mentioned story of how the
"JAVA" had been named, and how, he, Mr. Smith, had given orders for the
figurehead to be dug up from the hold where it had lain for many years under the
coal cargo, and it was found to represent a woman, her hands crossed over her
breast as if hiding her nakedness.
Coates then went on to point out the robustness of construction when he said the
following :-
"A curious fact which speaks volumes to the excellence of her
scantling, and to the skills of her builders happened on her passage out to
Gibraltar, laden with coal. She struck on Pearl Rock, which , as most readers
are aware, lies to the southward of Carnero point and a mile from the shore. She
got off, however and came into Gibraltar Bay. It was the intention to dock her
at Cadiz, but the underwriters insisting on her returning home to dock she
sailed to England. There on being docked, she was found to have a large piece of
rock sticking into her bottom. Even at her present age, eighty-three years, her
only leak is in the vicinity of this spot, as the planking put in by the
repairers has not stood the test of time.
As an almost forgotten hulk she lies now, a link in the chain of progression
in the art of ship building- a ship that when built was considered a triumph of
skill, a credit alike to designer and builder, but now a floating monument to
the palmy days of shipping, and a reminder of the ceaseless changes in the
phases of commerce."
Coates, writing in another of his works "The Old Country Trade of the East
Indies" (London, Imray Laurie, Norie & Wilson Ltd, 1911) said "...she is
the last of the old East Indiaman." (This author's emphasis)
Amazingly the "JAVA" was to remain at Gibraltar until 15th July 1939, when at
1530 hours, having been sold to the Genoan ship breaker, Riccardo Guisseppe
Sarnpierdarena on the 5th July for £500 , she was towed out of Gibraltar. An
article published in October 1939 in "Sea Breezes said "hundreds of people
regretfully watched her silent departure from the Rock and as the article said,
another Gibraltar landmark-or as one shrewd observer suggested, a watermark had
gone, never to be replaced. Mr. W.H.Smith, of Smith, Omossi & Co., stated that
it had become apparent that she could not withstand another winter's storms, and
with great reluctance the firm had felt compelled to send her away.
This was certainly a historical moment and even the
"Times" newspaper of London carried a number of mentions about it including on
the 26th of July, an article with the title " The Last Indiaman --- JAVA of
Gibraltar to be broken up". The article began with
"The "JAVA" believed to be the last East Indiaman still afloat has been
towed out of Gibraltar Bay to be broken up. The ship, which has been moored in
Gibraltar Bay for more than 80 years, was perhaps the most familiar mark in
Gibraltar territorial waters. She was used exclusively as a coal-hulk and was
known to generations of merchant seamen as hulk No. 16, for from her spacious
holds thousands of merchant vessels have been supplied with bunkering coal for
the best part of a century" .
The rest of the article went on to give the romantic history of the naming of
the vessel, I suspect a direct and unacknowledged "lift" from Coates " The Good
Old Days Of Shipping."
So to close, I believe that the story of the "JAVA" had to retold, bringing
together the aspects of her history that many did not know and to show the
"JAVA" in a way, by serving as a coal tender vessel and outlasting its sister
ships despite the sad and little recorded episode in the history of the ship
when it was used as an emigrant vessel, deserves a greater recognition in
maritime history.
