YONGALA WRECKED!

Northern Times (Carnarvon) Saturday, 1 April, 1911.

YONGALA WRECKED

OFF QUEENSLAND COAST.

BRISBANE, March 25.

The steamer Yongala left Cairns (Mackay)
on Thursday and was due at Townsville

on Friday. The serious apprehensions

felt for its safety have been increased

by the fact that two steamers which

left Cairns (Mackay) on Friday have
arrived at Townsville and report that 
they saw no signs of the Yongala. 
Rough weather prevails. There are 
numerous passengers and a large crew. 

March 28.

The Collector, of Customs this

morning received a telegram from the

lighthouse keeper at Cape Bowling

Green, stating that bags of chaff,

pumpkins, bran, and pollard have

been washed ashore. The

Queensland manager of the 

Adelaide Steamship Co. stated that 

the bags of bran and pollard have 

been identified as part of

the Yongala's cargo. The bags in

question were placed in the lower

hold, a centre part of the vessel, and

the fact that they were washed ashore

causes him to entertain the gravest

fears regarding her. The tug Alert,

sent out by the government, has

returned. She found floating two cases

of kerosene, a life-buoy, two pillows

marked A. S. Co., a basket of mails,

and a door with glass bearing the

word " Festina " and the date "1500".

It is supposed the latter is part of the

music room door upon which was the

Company's motto " Festina Lente"

'Make haste, slowly'. Caution does not appear to have been the watchword of this, the 99th voyage, made by Yongala.

March 29.

A telegram received to-day from

the captain of the Tarcoola states that

his vessel made another fruitless

search as far north as Bowen. A

thorough search was made of the

Great Barrier Beef, but no trace of

the steamer nor of wreckage was

found. The Tarcoola has left Bowen

to search as far as Cairns.

March 30.

The steamer Alert arrived in

Townsville to-night from the vicinity

of Wheeler Reef. She brought the

door of the music-room of the 

Yongala, with the top broken off, 

three grating hatches, and two 

lifebuoys. The Alert saw other 

hatches floating in the sea. A search 

made along the beach for twenty-six 

miles by police and black-trackers was 

resultless, as no trace was found of 

wreckage or survivors.

TOWNSVILLE,

March 28.

Wreckage is floating about Cleveland 

Bay. The passenger list totalled 45.

March 29.

A telegram from Cape Bowling

Green states that the coast has been

searched by the steamer Magnet for

five miles south for traces of the Yongala, 

but nothing has been discovered.

MELBOURNE,

March 29.

Another addition has been made to

the passenger list of the Yongala

published.

Mr. Northcote, general manager of

the Adelaide Company, when interviewed 

to-day, said it was evident the Yongala 

had foundered with all hands during 

the recent bad weather. He hardly 

thought any lives would be saved, 

as no boat could live for an instant 

in the sea during a cyclonic 

disturbance. The loss to the company 

would be a large vessel, which

cost £102,000 to build, but this loss

was overshadowed by the loss of life.

March 30.

As the cargo of the Yongala mainly

consisted of produce, there is no

possibility of any search being made

for salvage. If the wreck is discovered 

in an accessible spot, the company 

intends to dispose of it by auction.

SYDNEY,

March 29. 

Mr. Black, manager of the Sydney

office of the Adelaide Company,

referring to the loss of the Yongala

said: "Our masters, and others who 

know the Yongala and have travelled

in her, scout the idea that she has

foundered. What happened, they

think, is either that she struck a rock

or was blown out of her coarse to the

reef. If any passenger got ashore

anywhere, we should have heard

something of them. There seems

little hope, but the search will be 

continued until every vestige of hope has

faded." Captain Boyle, who has had

great experience on the Queensland

coast, thinks that the Yongala was

driven between Holbourne Island and

the reefs forming the western edge of

the Great Barrier.

A Carnarvon resident informs us

that a leading captain on this coast,

in discussing recently the stability

and seaworthiness of our coasters,

remarked; "But I wouldn't like to

travel on the Yongala or Grantala in

a storm."

The wreckage and cargo confirmed that Yongala had foundered. The theory that she had struck a rock was to some extent substantiated by the fact that the cargo discovered had come from the lower hold, suggesting that a portion of the hull had been ripped open. Either that or the cyclone had battered her to the extent that hatches (some seen floating in the sea) had come away. 

The first red flag was raised in the form of comment made: 'But I wouldn't like to travel on the Yongala or Grantala in a storm'. This is reminiscent of similar statements made by passengers who had voyaged on the Waratah. Before March, 1911, there are no newspaper records of passenger-discontent with Yongala or Grantala. The same applied to the Waratah. It seems that once a steamer had disappeared in mysterious circumstances negative witness accounts emerged from the woodwork to take centre stage in the evolving drama. 

But, having said this, Waratah was an inherently top heavy steamer, although it is my contention that she was stable in this respect when departing Durban for the last time. GM (metacentre) in Waratah's case was favourably adjusted by means of significant dead weight lowest down in her hull. 

It will be interesting to explore Yongala's stability status in coming posts...

DENT ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE.

wikipedia:

Dent Island Light is an active lighthouse located on Dent Island, a small island off the coast of Queensland, Australia. Dent Island is part of the Whitsunday Group of the Whitsunday Islands. Located on the south-west tip of the island, the light guides ships passing in the Whitsunday Passage, between Whitsunday Island and the islands to the west,^[2] and marks the Dent Island Passage.^[3]

From its inception, the lighthouse was closely connected to Cape Cleveland Light. Both lighthouses were recommend, approved, tendered and finally, in December 1879, constructed together.

The lighthouse is a typical for Queensland, made of a timber frame clad with galvanized iron plates. It is topped by a Chance Brothers lantern room, and painted white with a red dome.

From its beginning, the lighthouse was closely related to the Cape Cleveland Light. The construction of both lighthouses was recommended by Commander George Poynter Heath, the Chairman of the Queensland Marine Board, in February 1878.^[2] The lighthouses were formally approved in April 1878 and tenders for the construction of both stations, each including a lighthouse and two keepers' cottages, were called in May 1878 and closed in June 1878.^[5] The tenders were awarded to W. P. Clark, who also constructed Bustard Head Light (1868),^[6] Low Isles Light (1877),^[7] Double Island Point Light (1884) and Pine Islet Light (1885).^[6] However, following personal difficulties,^[6] the contracts were transferred to John Clark and James Wiseman who completed the construction of both stations in December 1879.^[5]

The tower was constructed in the unique Queensland method of constructing a timber frame and cladding it with non-structural iron plates or iron sheets.^[2] The original apparatus comprised a fourth order lens with an oil wick burner^[8] of 4,000 cd intensity.^[2] Like other lighthouses at that time it used a clockwork mechanism with weights, which had to be wound periodically. Due to its short height, only 6 metres (20 ft) from the base to the lantern,^[4] the mechanism had to be wound every 75 minutes.^[9]

6.35 pm, 23 March, 1911, (actually 5 p.m.) Yongala passed the Dent Island lighthouse and was sighted by the keeper as she navigated the Whitsunday Passage. This was not the last sighting of the doomed steamer as the residents of Cannon Valley saw the steamer passing at dusk, an hour's steaming from Dent Island. Yongala did not have wireless apparatus and would have relied on signals from this lighthouse to warn her of the approaching cyclone. However, Dent Island had no means of communication with the mainland and would not have been privy to the storm warning.

Yongala departed Flat Top, Mackay, 1.40 p.m., Thursday, 23 March. She was in relatively light / tender condition (top heavy). Cargo weight accounted for 29% of maximum load and 164 tons of stabilising pig iron ballast had been removed because it caused a jerky recovery uncomfortable for passengers.

Captain Knight elected to depart for Townsville despite strengthening wind from the southeast and a falling barometer. I believe the decision was based on an assumption that the weather system was coming up the coast, rather than one into which they would be steaming. 

There was no cyclone warning.

Heading north to Townsville and believing they could outrun the weather, Yongala made an average of 16 knots assisted by a 2 knot current. Yongala passed Dent Island, inside passage, Whitsundays, at about 5 p.m. (erroneously reported as 6 p.m.) and was subsequently seen by residents of Cannon Valley Beach an hour later, coinciding with dusk at 6 p.m.. This was the riskier but quicker, inside passage passing between Armit and Gumbrell Islands. 

Having cleared the Whitsundays without mishap, Yongala headed northwest in open water parallel with the coast and the outer Barrier Reef. She cleared Nares Rock without difficulty and arrived at a position 11.5 miles out from Cape Bowling Green Light, 17.7 miles from where Grantala lay anchored to the west due to deteriorating weather conditions.

We know from the chronometer time, 11.45 p.m. (conclusive in my opinion) and a wreck site within the large steamer track, that the disaster must have been sudden and catastrophic. Also, the time and site matches a plausible 15 - 16 knots (favourable, 2 knot current).

My belief is that the intense cyclonic system 30 miles in diameter was actually a hybrid cyclone (see image below) predominated by a gale from the south - the masters who experienced the storm reported gale force wind directions in keeping with this.

By the time Yongala was almost upon the eye of the cyclone, the gale would have shifted rapidly and violently from south to north, bringing the wind force to bear on the top heavy steamer's starboard bow and beam. 

Heading northwest, Captain Knight would have been confronted by an unfolding catastrophe and certain knowledge of Yongala's inability to recover quickly enough in such conditions. I believe he attempted to bring the steamer's bow into the gale. 

What followed must have been extreme and sudden, Yongala capsizing within minutes. The rudder is still in the half to starboard position and the wreck lies facing north. If there had been enough time for recovery, I believe the rudder would have been corrected to maintain the heading.

An explosion was heard by residents south of the disaster site, suggesting that the furnaces burning under full steam reacted to the cold sea water rushing in. 

The main hatch was compromised as the steamer foundered and lighter cargo in hold 3 liberated into the tumultuous sea. 

Passengers would no doubt have been confined to cabins due to conditions, essentially trapped as the disaster unfolded. 

I choose to believe that Yongala foundered so quickly there was little time for protracted suffering and Yongala's 122 souls now rest in peace, cosetted by some of the Coral Sea's most illustrious and doting residents.  

courtesy Google Earth

courtesy Google Earth

Max Gleeson presents an engaging theory based on dive observations that lifeboats on the starboard side of Yongala were swung out in preparation for evacuation of the ship rather than a sudden, extreme event.

A great deal of wreckage was subsequently discovered after the disaster spanning large swathes of the coast from Cape Bowling Green to Palm Island in the north. No lifeboat(s) or section thereof from the starboard side were discovered. Only a section of lifeboat 1 from the port side was found, suggesting that no one escaped Yongala.

A possible reason for starboard davits being in the 'swung out' position could be forces linked with Yongala coming to rest on her starboard side. 

The following extract gives us an idea of the forces unleashed by the cyclone:

Cairns Post, 17 October, 1911. 

Captain McKenzie further stated that 

between Cape Upstart and Cape Bowling 

Green there is now visible in the bush the 

track of the awful south-west tornado, which

it is believed drove the Yongala out onto

Broadhurst Reef. For a width of fifteen miles

the whole of the trees, including many immense

ones, being torn out by the roots and levelled.

It is clear from this description that Yongala was subjected to an intense, narrow, system of formidable force, causing her to capsize rapidly. One could argue that such a force would have destroyed even the most 'stable' of vessels.


The Week, Brisbane, 31 March, 1911.

A veteran master mariner firmly adheres

to the belief that the vessel turned turtle

in the cyclone, and explains the fact that

the cargo mentioned had come ashore by

pointing out that it was quite likely that the 

cargo of the overturned vessel falling upon 

the hatches, would burst them open, the 

lighter portion finding its way to the surface.


courtesy Trove

For all readers with an in interest in this subject Max Gleeson's online video, 'Mystery of a Generation' is compelling and beautifully compiled.

THREE DAYS OVERDUE.

The Brisbane Courier, Monday 27 March, 1911.

THREE DAYS OVERDUE.

IS IT A MARINE DISASTER?

FINE STEAMER YONGALA MISSING,

TWO STEAMERS IN SEARCH.

AN UNSUCCESSFUL CRUISE.

ANXIETY IN BRISBANE

When it became known in Brisbane on

Saturday morning that the Adelaide

Steamship Company's fine steamer, Yongala,

which left Brisbane on Tuesday afternoon

for Cairns, had not arrived at Townsville,

where she was due on Friday, naturally

no little anxiety was aroused. This

became considerably more pronounced 

as the day wore on without tidings of the 

steamer, especially in view of the cyclonic 

weather conditions which have been 

prevailing in the North during the past few 

days. A wire received by the Deputy 

Postmaster-General from Townsville during 

the morning, announcing that the Yongala 

was overdue, stated that the Cooma which 

arrived at Townsville on Saturday morning 

reported having seen nothing of the missing 

vessel, which had left Flat-top at 1.40 p.m. on 

Thursday. This was serious news indeed, 

but even more serious was to follow.

Early yesterday afternoon the Bowen

authorities wired us follows—'At 7.30

a.m. a Howard Smith and another large

steamer a long way out, passed South

from pilot station here, no other vessels

sighted today, pilot stations are keeping

a sharp look out. Some three hours

later a further telegram came from the

same source which read as follows—

'Flat-top advises that master of Cooma

reports Dent Island signalled that Yongala

passed North at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Townsville advises that Cape Bowling Green 

reports "No sign of Yongala."

Suggesting that the Yongala had foundered somwhere between Dent Island and Cape Bowling Green.

Subsequently Bowen wired that the

commander of the Wodonga reported 

having seen nothing of the Yongala.

This was most disconcerting, since it

showed that steamers going over the

Yongala's course, either way, had seen nothing

of her, and apparently she had been last

sighted at Dent Island, that is to say,

in Whitsunday Passage. All day yesterday 

there was a continuous flow of anxious 

inquirers at this office and at the G.P.O. 

shipping board, particularly in the evening, 

and, as by no means reassuring telegrams 

were posted up, the anxiety increased tenfold. 

Many hopeful theories were put forward, but, 

nevertheless, there was a general feeling that 

something untoward had happened.

"I don't like the look of it at all," said

Mr. E. B. Wareham, the manager of the

company, last night, in the course of

conversation. He explained that the 

Company had on Saturday despatched 

two of its steamers, the Tarcoola and 

the Ouraka, from Townsville in search 

of the missing vessel. These vessels, 

each of which was over 4000 tons capacity, 

were ordered to make a thorough search, 

one inside the Passage, and the other 

outside. Last night he (Mr. Wareham) 

received a telegram advísing that the 

Tarcoola had arrived at Flat-top at 7 p.m., 

and had reported that she had examined 

the inside route of Whitsunday Passage, 

whilst the Ouraka went over the outside route, 

along the Barrier Reef. Both vessels had met at

Dent Island in the afternoon, having seen

nothing of the Yongala. There they were

informed by the lighthouse-keeper that the

Yongala had passed at 6.35 p.m. on 

Thursday. "That is evidence," said Mr. 

Wareham, ''that the master of the Yongala 

adhered to his usual practice by going 

through Whitsunday Passage (instead of 

going outside, as is frequently done by 

vessels proceeding to Townsville direct.) 

Mr. Wareham further stated  that the Ouraka 

had left Dent Island again at 4 o'clock on 

Sunday afternoon to carefully examine 

the inside route through Whitsunday Passage.

The Tarcoola was to leave Mackay during

the night to search all the bays and islands

in the Passage. Both vessels would report 

to the lighthouse-keeper at Bowen on

Monday morning.

"Yes, it looks very bad," added Mr.

Wareham, "seeing that so many vessels

have gone over the same course without

sighting her. It seems hardly credible to

me that a vessel could be lost in such

a narrow passage, and nothing seen or

heard of her. Still, we entertain the hope

that the Yongala, although she has never

before had any accident, has merely met

with some mishap to her machinery, or

something of that sort, and may be sheltering 

under one of the islands in Whitsunday

Passage."

The Yongala is a steel screw steamer

of 3604 tons register, and is one of the

largest ships in the coastal trade. She

was built in 1903 by the firm of Armstrong, 

Whitworth, and Co., Ltd., Newcastle. 

Her dimensions are :— Length, 350ft.; 

breadth, 43ft.; depth, 27ft. She

was on a voyage from Melbourne to

Cairns, having left Brisbane, as before

stated, on Tuesday afternoon. She was

due to arrive at Townsville at daylight

on Friday morning, and to continue her

voyage to Cairns on Saturday afternoon.

Captain W. Knight is in command, and

the crew numbers 70. The passenger list

on leaving Brisbane was as follows -

Mesdames Reath, Davids, Rooney, Elsdale, 

M. A. Woodward, Murray and three children, 

W. Lin, Marbey, Misses Rooney, Murray, 

Buxton, Uhr, P Carroll, M. Shannon, McGee, 

Messrs. Reath, Rooney, A. S. Dette, T. Parton, 

R. Stack, Elsdale, F. Voney, J. Fulton, F. C. Must, 

S. Mainwaring, W. Lin, E. Schneider, F. Buckenridge, 

D. Davis, Barclay, J. D. Jolley, Manbey, Real. 

R. Ronnarder, and 31 in the second saloon.

Note that the spelling for Chneider had been adjusted to the correct E Schneider.

The steamer Ouraka was to leave

Townsville on Saturday for Brisbane with

a quantity of log timber, whilst the Tarcoola 

was bound for Cairns with a cargo

of coal and coke from Sydney, Newcastle,

and Brisbane.

The Yongala had disappeared without a trace. As in the case of the Waratah, a storm of severe intensity appeared to be the likely cause of the disaster. Mr Wareham was pessimistic but realistic rather than dishing out dollops of false hope. The Lunds, owners of the Waratah, on the other hand persisted with the notion that their flagship had suffered mechanical failure and was adrift. In both cases numerous search vessels failed to find either ship afloat. 

Judging by the images below it appears that the shorter route through the islands making up the Whitsunday Passage presented a potential hazard to shipping during cyclonic events.  

Was Captain Knight a risk-taker?