Kihachi Yamada

Red Bill was a 12.11-ton lugger built by Chamberlain and Cooper and registered as 11/1904 for a conglomerate which included Frederick Lee Parkes, Herbert Parkes and Arthur Robert Harding. She was registered, with official number 1119011, and was based in Onslow. Typical of the luggers of her time, Redbill measured 35.75 x 11.75 feet [10.9 x 3.6 metres]. She was built for the northwest tides, and she drew four feet [1.2 metres] of water.

Red Bill began as a beche-de-mer boat, operating in the trepang fishery of the northern coast in between the pearl fields north from Onslow. To catch as much as possible, she ventured into the unchartered Northern Territory waters.

She sustained minor damage in a cyclone in 1911 while pearling. She was repaired and back at work quite soon. From 1919 to 1929 Red Bill was owned by Captain Ancell Gregory as part of his pearling fleet. Many more owners followed.

On 24 March 1937 a new crew member joined the boat. He was Kihachi Yamada. He was hired as the second diver when the lugger resupplied in Darwin. Kihachi was an experienced diver aged 52. He replaced the previous diver who died of fever two weeks before.

Kihachi emigrated as a passenger in 1912. He may have sailed to Australia via America, docking in New South Wales before making his way to Western Australia. When he signed on to Red Bill he had been in Australia for 25 years. 

Kihachi started his first dive from Red Bill off Goulbourn Island. After his dive, he was brought up to the surface and his helmet was removed. His crew were shocked to find he was dead. Minutes before he had communicated via his lifeline, his airline was working, and there were no outward signs of injury.

Red Bill sailed directly for Darwin, the closest settlement. She had her flag at half-mast when she sailed into the harbour to report Kalachi’s death and take his body. It was a 300-mile sail, but they made it in two days.

On 29 March, the coroner discovered Kihachi’s heart had failed. At the inquest, Heart failure was recorded as the cause of death.

Red Bill went on working for many years. In 1942 she was operating in between the northwest pearl fields when she was acquired by the Commonwealth Government for patrol work around Darwin. HMAS Red Bill providing early warnings about Japanese bombing raids.

After the war, Red Bill sat on the mud flats for two years before she was bought for £70 and refurbished. Then she hunted crocodiles in Papua New Guinea, she carried cargo for missionaries [1965]. She was sold to Greenpeace [1988] as a protest vessel and supported refugees of East Timor. Then she became an education boat for a youth challenge school in Victoria.

In 1978 she was bought for restoration and use as a private boat. Finally at the unbelievable age of 89 years, she was wrecked in a cyclone on 3 April 2000.Her seagoing life spanned over decades in the northwest and northern waters of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Her working career saw many crews and just as many incidents, ranging from mutiny and murder to record catches and survival stories. You can read one of her stories here - Sakamoto Hatrikichi.