Fremantle and the Gaol

Took the train south to Fremantle, which is a small fishing town on the mouth of the Swan River. It's about a half hour train journey and most of the latter part is along the coastline.

Wandered from the train station down through the docks to the Maritime Museum. We had only been going round for about fifteen minutes when they announced a tour of a subrmarine in the dry dock next door. Dave passed but I leapt at the chance.

The submarine was a Collins class diesel boat called the HMAS Ovens (named after an Irish fella). We were taken round by an old Navy guy who was an excellent tour guide.

We climbed the steps to the top of the submarine and down into the boat through the fore hatch, which took us straight into the torpedo room. The stairs down were fairly tight and some of the older members of the group took their time. The angle of the stairs changed half way down which made it more tricky.

The Torpedo Room was quite small and tight, and even I (at 5'9" (175cm)) bumped my head one or two times. The six torpedo doors were right at the front (obviously) and the torpedos arranged around us. Apparently one boat sunk because the torpedo man opened the door whilst the tube was still flooded. You can't do that anymore. Oh, and the torpedo guy was one of two survivors from that little accident.

The next room (through a small circular hatchway) was one of the bunk rooms. The bunks were small and arranged against the wall. Not sure how you'd get any sleep because people would be coming back and forth through it. You did have a little curtain though. The mattresses on it were all of about an inch think. Didn't look comfortable at all. There aren't enough bunks in the submarine for everyone so there was a hot-bunking system - sailors worked a 6 hour on 6 hour off day so there would always be spare bunks.

We then went through a (very) small corridor with a few rooms off which we could only look in. First was the senior sailors mess room which had a few chairs and a table. They used to have a projector for films.

The next room was the Galley (kitchen to all ye landlubbers) which was tiny. You wouldn't be able to swing a very small kitten. And they had three chefs cooking in there. Must have got VERY hot. As a bonus though, the chefs were the only ones who were allowed to wash every day.

The corrider then opened up into the bridge which was a lot smaller than I imagined but had all the usual stuff in from the movies such as the helm, sonar and the map-plotting table. They had three periscopes (normal, attack and I forget what the other was for).

The captain's cabin was next and it was also minute although at least he got his own bed. His feet stuck out into the engine room though (boxed off).

We then went through another hatchway into the engine room (all diesel engines) with a million various switches and lights, then through another hatchway into the aft torpedo room. Modern torpedos can now be fired forwards and hit a submarine behind them so this had been converted to bunks.

One final note as we exited was that the submarine was flying the Jolly Roger (skull and crossbones). This was from when a British submarine sunk a German frigate early in WWII. The British Admiralty thought this was a very sneaky and underhand way to fight a war so handed him the flag claiming he was nothing more than a pirate. The submarine captain was very proud of it as it showed he was doing his job properly and it has flown on British and Australian subs ever since.

We had a good fish and chip lunch in the fishing harbour and then headed to a shipwreck gallery full of stories and artefacts from all the shipwrecks that have occured up and down the WA coastline. It included part of the ship Bavaria that has been recovered from the deep.

We then wandered through Fremantle - past the Round House (Fremantle's oldest building and former Gaol) and then up the high street. All the architecture is very reminiscent of England with an Australian twist.

We returned to Fremantle the following day for a torchlit Gaol tour. Fremantle Gaol is pretty much fully intact as it was only finally closed in 1991. Our tour guide was a Scotsman called Terry who was excellent. We never found out if he was a former guard or prisoner though.

Our first stop was the entrance hall where prisoners were processed upon arrival and then through the shower blocks.

From there we headed into one of the cell blocks. The prison was again on three levels, only this time the 'suicide netting' was still up. Terry talked us through the prisoners day and then, as we were leaving, there was an almighty scream and a body landed in the suicide netting. Gave several people a major fright (ok including me).

We then wandered through the exercise yards where prisoners would, funnily enough, exercise. They had to sit out in the hot sun for ages before eventually a shade structure was erected, then a bit later they even got some basketball hoops and a tennis court. Apparently there are some 30 tennis rackets on the roof of the prison still.

Next stop was the solitary cells in an isolated building including cell no.1 where condemned prisoners would stay. We were all arranged around the guide who was telling us the stories of the place. All of a sudden a woman burst out of one of the cells. Not as big a fright as the first one but I wasn't too close. She then acted out the part of the only female prisoner to be executed there - for killing her stepchildren by pouring hydrochloric acid down their throats. She did a good job too (the actress that is) because the little boy standing next to me spent the entire time hiding behind his dad albeit with a big smile on his face. One small little addendum is that the picture I took of the corridor with all the doors leading of it has an orb on it.....

After that we went into the room that house the gallows. The room had a platform in the centre with the rope hanging over a pit. The trap doors were open and you could see down into the pit which was just a whitewashed room. There were barriers around to prevent people falling in. The rope was allegedly one used to actually hang people. There was an eerie presence to the place.

We wandered through another cell block where the cells were open and we could look inside. Several had very impressive artwork painted onto the walls. Fairly spartan but thats expected really.

We then went through into another wing and up stairs to the middle level to see the cell built for a serial escaper. Again we were suprised by a cell door on the third level being slammed open and an actor coming out to portray the prisoner in question. Apparently his longest stay in a prison was about a week before he managed to get out. The cell was constructed to be escape-proof and had wood lining all the walls and no window. It did work because it nearly killed the poor guy as it was a little too airtight. The prison doctor convinced the warden to let him out and then he promptly escaped again.

Our final stop was the prison chapel which remains consecrated and is still used, bizarrely, for weddings. The were several boards on the wall with the Ten Commandments, Lords Prayer and the Creed all created by prisoners. The commandment saying 'Thou Shall Not Kill' was changed to 'Thou Shall Not Murder', because obviously they killed people not more than a 100m from the chapel.

All in all it was an excellent tour, although it did let out a little late for us to get anything to eat in Fremantle - as they'd all stopped serving so we had to head back to Perth and get fed there.