Woodman Point Quarantine Station

The SS Suva was built in 1938 and was a familiar visitor to Australia post war with south bound timber cargoes from British Colunbia and American west coast ports then loading for the Pacific islands north bound. Suva was of a standard design of British tramp of that era with main and shelter deck, two hatches forward of the bridge, one hatch between the split superstructure, and two harches aft. Completed in November 1938, and most likely her registered owners were W. R. Carpenter Oversea Shipping Pty.Ltd Rabaul. Like her sisters she was placed under the ownership of Pacific Shipowners. Suva. Fiji. in 1948. SS Suva was requisitioned by the Commonwealth in April 1943. She had the signal letters VQWQ and was painted in standard Carpenter colours of grey hull, and was involved in the carriage of war supplies from Australia to New Guinea and othe Pacific islands. Information courtesy of The Nautical Association of Australia and Mr. I. Steversen.

The Pacific Trading vessel SS Suva arrived off the Western Australian coast in March 1943, while most of the twenty eight crew onboard were developing various degrees of Smallpox. One crewman, Sakusa Veiwili, had died on the 19th March 1943 on the voyage to Fremantle, and was buried at sea, and the remainder of the vessel's crew were landed at Woodman Point on 26th March 1943. The more serious cases had been tended to, prior to the vessel's arrival of Fremantle, by a thirty eight year old Chief Officer, named Arthur Waters, and courageously, he would inturn contract smallpox whilst caring for his men enroute to Fremantle, and he would die from the disease at the Woodman Point Quarantine Station at 2.30PM on the 1st April 1943.

Chief Officer, Arthur Waters died at 2.30PM 1st April 1943 and cremation began a 9.10PM that day and finished at 7.00AM on the 2nd April. The service was read by the OIC of the Quarantine Station, Mr. Roy McIntosh, and then the burial took place in the Woodman Point Military Cemetery.
In 1958 his remains were re-interred at the Karrakatta Cemetery.

The other victims of smallpox from the SS Suva, were four Fijian members of the crew:

Waledau, Samuela [23 yrs] Ordinary Seaman, died 30th March 1943 smallpox; cremated 31st March 1943.

Builoto, Eroni [25 yrs] Ship’s Cook, died 5th April 1943 smallpox; cremated 6th April 1943.

Cigilau, Rasaca [20 yrs] Ship’s Steward, died 9th April 1943 smallpox; cremated same day.

Tuqovu, Osea [20 yrs] Ordinary Seaman, died 11 April 1943 smallpox; cremated 11th April 1943 same day. Osea Tuqovu was the last person to die at the Woodman Point Quarantine Station

The crewmen who died at Woodman Point were cremated and buried in a single grave at the Woodman Point Military Cemetery in the Regional Park, and the Mission to Seamen erected a grave marker. The degraded wooden fixture, with names etched in wood, and small concrete cornerstone posts still remain in Woodman Point’s Military bushland cemetery. In the chapel of the Flying Angel Club in Fremantle there is a plaque dedicated to the memory of the SS Suva’s Chief Officer, Arthur Waters, and the crew who died.

Free practique was granted to the SS Suva on 17th April 1943