On June 6, 1928 the
SS Jervis Bay left Melbourne bound for England. Eight stowaways were
discovered and confined to a cabin. With the help of some dissident crew
members, the stowaways set fire to the cabin, and attempted to incite general
mutiny amongst the crew. This disturbance was subdued, and those involved were
confined to individual cabins "below hatches" guarded by volunteer
guards drawn from amongst the passengers.
As the entire situation was very alarming for the 600 or so passengers, the
Captain radioed for assistance. The Royal Navy Auxilary oiler
RFA Slavol put to sea with a detachment of Marines who boarded the
Jervis Bay on June 24. Under armed guard, there was no further
disturbance and the Jervis Bay
made
for Colombo, British Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) where the dissidents were
removed from the ship and transported to prison.
Received from Mr. John Rixon...
"Whilst sorting through some old family photographs I came across the
attached photo of the SS Jervis Bay which I thought might be of
interest.
On the back of the photo is a handwritten note which says -
‘SS Jervis Bay entering Southampton Docks after ‘mutiny’
on board Summer 1929 (sic). Taken from General Office window
‘W’ side, Test Chambers’
My father worked in the Southampton Docks and Marine Engineers Office from 1916
until his retirement in 1960 and I can only assume that the photo was taken
either by him or one of his colleagues. The second photo is of the Floating
Dock at Southampton Docks and was probably taken at around the same time.
Regards John Rixon "
