WRECK LOCATED, 1911?

The Sydney Morning Herald, Wednesday 18 October, 1911.

WHERE IS THE YONGALA?

THE NORNA'S SEARCH

PROBABLE SPOT LOCATED

On Monday afternoon the schooner-yacht

Norna, the property of Mr Sarsfield Cassidy,

returned from a five-week's search for the

steamer Yongala which disappeared in a gale

early in the year, and the wreck of which

has not been located since. The captain and

crew of the Norna believe that they have

dlscovered the spot where the wreck now

lies but in want of conclusive evidence have

not applied for the reward that has been

offered by the Queensland Government.

"We undertook the search in no spirit of

rash adventure" said Dr Cassidy last evening 

"but before the Norna sailed we held a

series of exhaustive inquiries in my rooms.

We got charge of the length of coast, and

compared notes with all that we could find

who had been through the storm in which the

Yongala disappeared. We worked out every

theory that had been advanced with regard to

the probable cause of her loss and as the

results of our deliberations the Norna 

determined to search very thoroughly the sea

off Cape Bowling Green.

How very intuitive.

Tho Norna went first to Seal Rocks to try

to locate the wreck of the Satara, the steamer

that sank on Edith Breakers two or

three years ago. We are able to report 

definitely that we have found her. The Norna

then proceeded to Bowen and gleaned all

the very scanty local information that could

be got concerning the finding of wreckage

from the Yongala and as a horse and some

bags of chaff were found near Cape Bowling

Green the search was very thorough in that

locality. What the Norna subsequently found

there goes to confirm the opinion held by

many that the Yongala foundered there in

deep water. The skipper of the Norna first

noticed an oily appearance on the surface of

a patch of water near Cape Bowling Green

and at once began to make investigations.

An oil slick emanating from a sunken steamer's engine room invariably gave the location of the wreck site.

A diver was in readiness to descend but the

strong current then prevailing made it 

impossible to do so. Bubbles were then 

observed rising continually from the midst 

of the oily patch, and there was a strange

smoothness of the water there as if some

large object was impeding the flow of the 

current. As the diver could not go down 

grappling irons and trawls were lowered 

and soundings taken all round the spot. 

The results in each case were negative, 

but that does not discourage us. It was a 

long and perilous search for the Norna 

struck bad weather and lost her foresail 

and a couple of jibs, and once when she 

got in too close to the reefs, lost an anchor. 

As soon as we can fit her out, and get 

another crew together, we intend making 

a more definite search of the spot where 

we think the Yongala Iies, and we are 

confident of success "