On the 4th February a large and powerful section of the Royal Navy passed through the port, comprising the battleship King George V, the aircraft carriers Indomitable, Illustrious, Victoria, Indefatigable, the cruisers Argonaut, Euralus, and 11 destroyers, but only the smaller vessels entered the inner harbour. On the 9th February, the 22nd Mine Sweeping Flotilla, consisting of seven Australian corvettes, arrived in the port after very lengthy service overseas in the European theatre of war.

The large aircraft carrier H.M.S. Formidable, accompanied by several destroyers, visited the port on the 4th March, and berthed within the inner harbour. Although weather conditions were far from ideal for the handling of such a vessel, the manoeuvre was undertaken without incident by the Trust's pilot, who was specially complimented by the Naval Officer in Charge.

On the 11th April the R.N. submarine depot ship Adamant arrived at the port to exchange duty with H.M.S. Maidstone. A further R.N. aircraft carrier Implacable, with its destroyer escort, reached the port on 1st May and berthed within the inner harbour.

With V-E Day occurring on the 9th May, it was realised that the resources of the port would become strained to the limit in the all-out effort by the Allied Forces to accomplish the defeat of Japan, but fortunately V-P Day arrived a little more than three months later and with the early departure of the U.S. Naval units very shortly thereafter it was felt that the strain was at last beginning to lift.

During the winter months, the exceptionally large rainfall that occurred resulted in a considerable amount of flood water entering the harbour and passing out to sea. Conditions for the handling of vessels thus became very difficult and were accentuated by reason of the congregation of large numbers of submarines in the harbour, for which little or no work had for some time past been available, due to the success which they had achieved whilst operating out of the port of Fremantle.

The Fire aboard the Panamanian

Outbreak of Fire At North Wharf

Shortly after 3 p.m. on the 17th January, 1945, a disastrous outbreak of fire occurred at No. 8 berth, North Wharf [North Quay], the fire also spreading to the merchant vessel Panamanian accommodated at this berth and engaged in the loading of a cargo of flour. This outbreak was unparalleled in the history of the Trust, although its origin was identical with that in the case of the fire of comparatively small proportions which occurred at No. 10 berth on the 1st November, 1943, that is, the ignition of a film of oil lying on the surface of the harbour waters.

The continuously maintained fire brigade of the United States Navy upon the North Wharf, for the protection of its own vessels, enabled fire-fighting measures to be undertaken within a space of seconds, the nearest metropolitan fire brigades responding immediately to the alarm, but subsequently being forced to call for additional equipment and personnel, owing to the difficulty faced in combating the fire. The Trust's own volunteer fire brigade, together with trailer pumps, also promptly proceeded to the outbreak and the Chief Officer of the W.A. Fire Brigades Board arrived soon afterwards from his headquarters to supervise fire-fighting operations. Very fortunately, there were ample numbers of Service personnel readily available to assist the efforts of the various fire brigade units, men being drawn from the Royal Navy and United States Navy vessels and Royal Australian Navy and Australian Military establishments, but the task of those engaged in quelling the outbreak was extremely arduous, and many of the personnel were temporarily overcome by the vast quantity of smoke.

The fire in the wharf 'structure' continued in a westerly direction against the wind due, no doubt, to the flames feeding, on the oil lying on the surface of the water and spreading in that direction. The outbreak then endangered valuable defence property in the form of United States and Royal Navy sub-marine depot ships and their costly submarines, any damage sustained to which would obviously have had a serious effect on the war effort through their being hampered in their task of being continuously engaged in combating the enemy. Had these vessels been, affected by the fire, there was the added risk of detonation of explosives which they doubtless had on board. As it was, the flames licked the hull of the depot vessel H.M.S.Maidstone and the smoke was still pouring from her side while she was being pulled mid-stream preparatory to being taken out of the harbour, the two U.S.N. submarine depot ships having been removed a little beforehand from the danger area

Aboard the Panamanian the fire raged fiercely, and all other than essential personnel, had to be cleared away from the area when the flames reached an anti-aircraft magazine and the ammunition commenced to explode.

The cause of the ignition of the oil that had become deposited on the harbour waters was the flame from a smouldering bag which a waterside worker on the Panamanian had thrown overboard between the vessel and the wharf in the hope of it being extinguished by the water after another worker had unsuccessfully endeavoured to extinguish it on the deck of the vessel. When the outbreak of fire occurred, another vessel, the Umgeni had just been berthed double-banked to the Panamanian, but having the tug still held on ahead, was rapidly cast off, and proceeded to the outer harbour for safety.

By about 6 p.m. the fire on the wharf was, except for minor recurrences at isolated points, brought under control, but it was not until about noon on the following day that it was considered to have been properly extinguished. Through the fortuitous circumstance of the establishment of a hospital in the U.S. Navy's base situated a short distance away from the scene of the fire, minor casualties sustained in combating the outbreak were able to be treated promptly, this establishment also providing much-needed refreshments to many others engaged throughout the long hours in the work of fire-fighting.

Upon the submarine depot vessels at the North Wharf being removed from the danger zone, valuable assistance was rendered by small salvage units of the U.S. Navy, which were much better able to get at the concentration of flames under the wharf decking, these vessels being manoeuvred up and down the wharf to create a wash with the dual purpose of extinguishing the flames and breaking out the oil film on the water that had yet not become ignited.

The first of the metropolitan fire brigade engines to arrive took up a position on the wharf where, unfortunately, it became trapped in the flames and was totally destroyed. As valuable stocks of fodder stored in the adjacent grain shed then became endangered by the burning petrol in the fire engine, special attention was given to this area and resulted in the saving of these stocks.

After 6 p.m., all efforts were concentrated on extinguishing the fire on board the Panamanian, and a little later, with the amount of water used for fire-fighting, the ship commenced to list badly to port, which was in the direction of the harbour fairway, resulting in the mooring lines carrying away and the vessel drifting from the wharf and the streams of hoses. However, tugs were readily obtained and pushed the vessel back on to the wharf. Decision was then made to reduce the delivery of water for the purpose of extinguishing the fire and utilise it for the filling of starboard tanks of the vessel in an endeavour to bring her to a more even keel.

Owing to the danger of the fuel oil tanks being likely to give away, in view of the fire then raging fiercely along the whole of the promenade deck of the vessel, as well as in the forward hatches, the Naval authorities ordered all warships in the harbour to standby ready to proceed instantly to the outer harbour. The Harbour Master then gave corresponding directions to all merchant vessels, and thereafter tugs were employed assisting in their removal.

By daylight on Thursday, 18th January, the fire on the ship had then been brought under control and the risk of its loss had then passed; unfortunately, a rather fresh breeze from the eastward subsequently arose and rendered ineffective a good deal of the fire-fighting efforts. By 5 p.m. the fire had again been brought under control, and it was then possible to take hose lines on top of the cargo of flour and direct them towards the seat of the fire. At that stage, it was apparent that the fire would burn for several days, but that no further danger would ensue; actually a week elapsed from the time of the outbreak of the fire until the whole of the fire-fighting equipment was withdrawn. During the same day (Thursday, 18th), vessels which had been taken out of the harbour then returned to their respective berths.

After a survey of the damage had been made by the Trust's engineer, a commencement was made upon the repairs to the wharf superstructure, which had been extensively damaged. Repairs are not even yet completed [in 1946], and consequently the total cost cannot be ascertained, but it is not expected that they will exceed the amount of 25,000.

The first investigation in connection with this fire, apart from routine inquiry made within the Trust's organisation, was the preliminary inquiry held by the Deputy Director of Navigation, W.A., under the provisions of Section 377A of the Commonwealth Navigation Act, but as the depositions of witnesses at the inquiry were taken in camera and then forwarded to the Central Office of the Department in Melbourne, the findings, if to be published, are still awaited.

The main issues of the fire were the writs served upon the Commissioners by the owners of the Panamanian, and of that portion of the cargo with which it had been loaded and destroyed by the fire the claims amounting in the aggregate to 517,000. No indication has, however, yet been received as to when the case, which will be defended by the Commissioners, will come before the Courts.

(extracts from the 1946 Fremantle Harbour Trust Annual Report)