SS Ferret was an iron screw steamship of 460 tons built in Glasgow (Scotland) in 1871 by J & G Thomson, Glasgow.
The ship was built for G & J Burns of Glasgow for use in the River Clyde ferry service. In 1873, Dingwall & Skye Railway Co Ltd bought it for use in the construction of the Tay Rail Bridge. Later, as part of a merger, it was acquired by Highland Railway Co. of Inverness.
In 1880 the ship was stolen as part of a conspiracy in which it disappeared from its home in Scotland and mysteriously reappeared several months later in Australia under a new name. It remained in Australia for the remainder of its working life.
Theft
While the ship was laid up in Greenock in October 1880, several men approached the owners seeking to charter the ship for a Mediterranean pleasure cruise. The men were James Stewart Henderson, alias Smith, alias Bernard; Edward Rashleigh Carlyon, alias Wright, alias Leigh; and Joseph Walker, alias Wallace. Henderson presented himself as the leader and managed to convince the owners that he had substantial financial credentials, and that the cruise was for his wife who was unwell. He claimed to be a relative of W.H. Smith, First Lord of the Admiralty. A six-month lease was agreed, and bills for the first month's charter paid, later to be found worthless. Henderson operated a fraudulent London shipbroking office named Henderson & Co. to support the scam.
Provisioning for the voyage began immediately, and crew and officers were hurriedly recruited. Walker and Carlyon were appointed Purser and Chief officer respectively. A man named Watkins was recruited as Sailing master and another man, Griffin, as Chief engineer.
The conspirators bought and loaded provisions and premium wine worth £500, and £1,400 worth of "stores, plate and coal", again all paid for with bills later found to be worthless. The ship sailed from Glasgow to Cardiff, and another Welsh port where they bunkered 260 tons of coal. Henderson's wife came aboard at Cardiff. Ferret then sailed through the Straits of Gibraltar, ostensibly for the "Mediterranean cruise", ensuring that shore-stations clearly saw the "All Well" signal. However, during the night with lights out, it passed back through the Straits, apparently unobserved—the ruse being that people would assume its disappearance meant the ship had been lost with all hands somewhere within the Mediterranean Sea.
While at sea in the Atlantic, Henderson told the crew and officers he was on a secret mission, that he was a colonel in the United States Cavalry, and that he needed to destroy all traces of his identity. He also told them he owned the ship and was entitled to do with it as he pleased, that he was immensely wealthy, and that anyone who did not cooperate with the scheme would be shot. Under his instructions, the ship was radically changed in appearance: the yellow funnel was painted black, previously blue lifeboats were painted white, and various items identifying the ship were tossed overboard. The wheelhouse and chartroom were dismantled and rebuilt on the aft-deck, further disguising the ship's profile. The ship was renamed Bantam, taking the name of another ship of similar tonnage on the Lloyd's Register, and forged shipping documentation was created to support the false name. The crew were instructed to say the ship had sailed from Singapore if questioned. The ship next sailed to the Cape Verde Islands and then to Santos, Brazil, where it arrived on Boxing Day 1880. The crew took on a consignment cargo of coffee for Marseilles. Henderson then sailed for Cape Town, changing the ship's name en route, for the second time, to India. On arrival, he sold the coffee for £13,000. He then sailed for Port Phillip in Victoria, Australia via Mauritius and Albany, Western Australia arriving at Victoria in April 1881. Henderson told Australian port authorities that he had come from Bermuda.