SS Warrimoo – The Ship that Existed in Two Different Centuries at Once

The SS Warrimoo was a passenger and refrigerated cargo liner, which got famous as the ship that existed in two centuries simultaneously.

But before diving into this exciting tale, let’s look at the ship’s career.

SS Warrimoo was launched on May 28, 1892. She was constructed by Swan Hunter, a shipbuilding company based in Wallsend, England, at River Tyne. Swan Hunter also built Warrimoo’s sister ship, Miowera, which was launched the same year on July 25.

Both ships were ordered by James Haddar, the founder of Huddart Parker Limited, for his New Zealand and Australian Steam Ship Company to run on the New Zealand-Australia route.

The following year, he created the Canadian-Australian Steam Ship Company, which operated liner services between Australia and Vancouver, and so Warrimoo and Miowera were transferred to this new route in 1893.

The New Zealand Shipping Company purchased both vessels in 1897, and the Union Company bought SS Warrimoo in 1901.

The Career of SS Warrimoo

Warrimoo’s first voyage was a cruise trip to the Norwegian fjords. She also undertook many successful trips in her career before the First World War began, and she was converted into a troop ship. In 1915, she transported the Maori Pioneer Battalion as part of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.

In 1916, a Singaporean Company, Khiam Yik & Co Ltd, bought SS Warrimoo, though she still carried troops.

Collision with French Destroyer

Two years later, when disaster struck, she was part of a convoy taking troops from Bizerte, Tunisia, to Marseille, France. On May 18, 1918, SS Warrimoo collided with the French destroyer Catapulte.

As a result, the latter’s depth charges broke loose and fell into the water, ultimately detonating and sinking both vessels. 58 men on the Catapulte and one person onboard the Warrimoo lost their lives in the tragic accident.

Warrimoo’s sister ship, Miowera, also met a similar fate. She ran aground on a reef in Cook Islands on Christmas Day in 1916. Her wreck lies in shallow waters, and above the water surface during low tide, one can see the cylinder block of her triple-expansion steam engine. What lies below the surface of water has become a part of the reef, supporting an array of marine life. Diving on the reef is possible in the summer months.

Talking about Warrimoo, her final resting place off the coast of Tunisia would not be disturbed, and at least she has Catapulte keeping her company.

How did SS Warrimoo exist in two centuries at once?

The remarkable feat was achieved on the evening of December 30, 1899, when the SS Warrimoo was sailing on the waters of the mid-Pacific. She was headed to Sydney, Australia, from Vancouver.

The navigator finished working out a star fix and brought the ship’s captain, John DS. Phillips, the result. Her position then was LAT 0º 31′ N and LONG 179 30′ W; the date was December 31 1899.

First Mate Payton said, ‘Know what this means?’ He added that they were just a few miles from the point where the equator and the international date line intersected or met. Captain Phillips was intrigued and decided to try to achieve something impossible that would make people remember them for the times to come.

He called the crew members to the bridge to check and monitor the ship’s position. He also changed course slightly to steer the ship towards the meeting point of both lines. Five experienced crew members checked the sun’s position and the position of the stars after sunset.

They checked the ship’s location every three hours. The captain also adjusted the engine speed, aided by the smooth and calm seas and open skies. At midnight, the SS Warrimoo found itself on the equator at exactly the point where it crossed the International date line! Its bow was pointing to the south, and its stern-faced north.

The consequences of this were quite mind-boggling. The ship’s forward part, or the bow, was in the Southern Hemisphere, where it was summer and January 1, 1900, while the aft part of the ship or its stern, was in the Northern Hemisphere, where it was winter and December 31, 1899.

Hence, though for just a brief moment, the ship was on two different days: on its forward part, it was Monday, and on its aft part, it was still Sunday. It was also in two different months: for those in the forward part, January had already started, but for those in the aft, it was only December.

It was also in two different seasons, summer and winter, two different years, 1900 and 1899, and two different centuries, 1900 and 1899, all at once.

The ship was also in all four hemispheres at once: southern and northern on either side of the equator and eastern and western on both sides of the 180th meridian.

Many argue that it is something difficult or impossible to accomplish. However, in 1942, the Ottawa Journal reported that the retired Captain Philips could confirm the entire incident from his logbooks. It was also common for ships to go out of their way to cross the equator on the international date line in those days.

Theoretically, it is quite possible for a vessel at that point at a particular time to be in different days, months, seasons, years, and even centuries and hemispheres. However, to achieve this feat, the captain and crew members would have to be exactly at the intersection of the Great Meridian and the equinoctial circle. Given the navigation equipment and techniques of the time, pulling this off and maintaining that precise position would be quite difficult.

Additionally, there is the matter of the beginning of a new century. Centuries and Millennia end when the year ending in zero is over, not when it starts. Hence, the 21st century and the third millennium began on January 1, 2001, and the 20th century started on January 1, 1901, not 1900. However, this chronological fact was overshadowed by the popularity of the SS Warrimoo, which became famous as a ship that could exist in two centuries at once.

Talking about evidence to corroborate the fact, there is nothing except its mention in the captain’s log. Other documents like copies of the ship’s log, contemporary reporting of the incident, accounts and testimonies from other crew members and passengers would go a long way in verifying this claim, but sadly, no such documentation has been found.

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About Author

Zahra is an alumna of Miranda House, University of Delhi. She is an avid writer, possessing immaculate research and editing skills. Author of several academic papers, she has also worked as a freelance writer, producing many technical, creative and marketing pieces. A true aesthete at heart, she loves books a little more than anything else.

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