RUMOURS AND REPORTS.

Cairns Post, Thursday 13 April, 1911.

Fate of the Yongala.

Rumours and Reports.

Surmises and Conjectures.

(From the "Post" Correspondents.) 

BRISBANE, Friday.- Various and

startling are the rumours and the

conjectures one hears in Brisbane

concerning the Yongala disaster. 

(It has been authoritatively declared,

by the way, that the proper 

pronunciation of Yongala is 

Yong-er-la, not Yong-ga-la-). 

Some people blame the captain, 

some the ship and some, only the

cyclone.

Some say Captain Knight was too

anxious to lick every other steamer 

on the same run, and his desire to 

do a very smart passage to Townsville 

outran his discretion and better 

judgment. A good many persons are 

inclined to think that the captain had 

timely enough warning of the awful 

cyclone had he cared to take it.

Everyone, however, speaks of Captain 

Knight as a fine fellow socially and 

most people do not have the view 

that the ship was lost through

foolhardiness on his part.

As to the story re the lack of

stability of the Yongala there 

may not be anything in that 

contention but whether there 

is or not the owners are not 

likely to admit it.

As a matter of fact it may be

taken for granted that if the

Yongala was known to the 

Adelaide Company to be in 

any degree unseaworthy they 

would not have permitted her to 

remain a day at sea in that 

condition.

What seems to be a reasonable

way of looking at the matter is to

assume that the captain acted with

all necessary caution, and that the

steamer was stable and seaworthy in

every way and that her most mysterious 

disappearance was entirely an act of 

Providence. The fearful storm broke

on the ship from all sides at once, 

and all the efforts of her master and 

Crew were puny and futile. She was 

bulleted about like a cork until engulfed 

by some great wave or until she struck a 

rock or a reef with tremendous force, 

and went almost immediately to her

doom.

But how strange it is that even

if the passengers were under hatches,

not one body has been found, and

very little wreckage. Will the real

fate of the vessel and the 120 souls

on board remain a secret until at

Gabriel's trumpet call the sea shall

give up its dead?

The unspeakably sad disaster has

served to bring once again into relief

the better side of our common

human nature. A generous response

is being made to the appeal for relief 

funds, and no doubt a sum will

be raised that will make it possible

to remove the dependents of the men

who went down with the ill-fated

steamer from the possibility of want

or starvation, even if it be found

that as seems to be thought, the

Adelaide Company are not liable 

for compensation to the widows 

and children of the crew. The fund

has been opened at a time when the

public are being asked to assist the

sufferers by the recent disastrous 

cyclone at Port Douglas but there is

enough charity in the hearts ot the

people of Queensland and Australia

to provide for the necessities of the

losses by both catastrophes.

As in the case of the missing Waratah, 5 years prior, speculative opinion dominated the press reports. A desperate hunger to unravel the truth behind the two significant disasters. Without evidence of where Yongala foundered, and why, it is understandable that issues would be raised regarding seaworthiness; crew competence and the force of the storm.

As we have seen there has already been suggestion that Captain Knight was a bit gung ho, quite possibly ignoring warnings from a falling barometer and subsequently steaming into the heart of the cyclone. But there could be more to this than meets the eye.

The Yongala was rumoured to be top heavy, much like the Waratah. These steamers required adequate ballasting to offset GM instability and we know that Yongala was carrying only 36% of cargo capacity = deadweight - the 150 tons of pig iron. I take the point that Yongala had successfully negotiated storms before, which to some extent proved her seaworthiness. However, it took storms of 'exceptional violence' (Waratah Inquiry) to put these ships to the ultimate test - circumstantial evidence pointing to failure under these conditions.

It makes sense that crew and passengers would have been 'under hatches' given the storm. This strongly suggests that the disaster unfolded rapidly without allowing time for escape onto the boat deck. The rapidity of the disaster points strongly at the cyclone being the primary cause. Striking a rock or running aground would have allowed more time for emergency procedures and evidence of wreckage and bodies in the proximity of the scene.

Anecdotal evidence from the time describes steamers foundering within minutes under certain circumstances. 

It will be interesting to see what the Inquiry made of all of this....

In my opinion it was reprehensible that the owners took no responsibility for the welfare of crew's families!

    

NEVER SEEN HIS INFANT DAUGHTER.

Queensland Times, Friday 31 March 1911.

NOTES ABOUT PASSENGERS.

As already stated the Mrs. Murray,

who was a passenger on the

Yongala, is the wife of Mr. Abi Murray,

solicitor, Cairns, and partner of

Mr. C. B. Lilley, son of the late

Sir Charles Lilley. She is the

second daughter of Mr. and Mrs.

David Sheppard, ex-traffic manager at

Picton, New South Wales. She was

returning to her home at Cairns;

after a six months' visit to Sydney 

and the Blue Mountains. The

children with her were Ian, aged 6;

Alister, aged 5; Dan, aged 3; and

Ailsa Mary, aged 8 weeks, who was

born at Leura. Mr. Abi Murray, owing

to pressure of business, was unable

to go to Sydney to bring home

his wife and family, and thus he

has never seen his infant daughter.

His mother, Mrs. Alex. Murray,

accompanied by her second daughter,

Miss Annie Darling Murray, returned

to Brisbane two weeks ago, after a

three years' trip to Scotland. Miss

Annie Murray was not a passenger,

as previously stated.

STRUCK A ROCK?

Queensland Times, Friday 31 March, 1911.

YONGALA DISASTER.

No News of Passengers.

Further Wreckage Picked Up.

Energetic Search Continues.

The question as to how the steamer

met her fate is now evoking considerable 

discussion (says the "Telegraph"). 

Shipmasters are generally agreed 

that the steamer must have

struck a reef or rock, but one or

two authorities still tenaciously

cling to the belief that she was

overturned by the cyclonic 

conditions with which she was 

surrounded on the awful night of 

her disappearance.

In support of this theory, it is

pointed out that in the event of

the steamer having struck a rock

she would most likely have had her

side or bottom ripped out, thus

liberating large quantities of her

cargo. Had she run on a reef she

would have remained there, like all

other known examples of this kind.

The fact that no bodies or deck fittings 

have been discovered, is taken

as a further proof of the suddenness 

of the vessel's disappearance,

such as would have happened

through her being overwhelmed by the

awful velocity of the wind, and the

untold tumultuousness of the water.

In opposition to the theory that

the vessel was overturned, it is stated

that she was for a number of years

employed in the company's Sydney

to Fremantle service, in the course

of which time she frequently weathered 

numberless storms in the Great Australian 

Bight, off the much dreaded Leeuwin, and 

other parts of the coast, coming through

the ordeal triumphantly. Indeed Mr.

Harris, who now holds an important 

official position at Adelaide,

and who for some years was chief

engineer of the Grantala, and who

also had some experience of the

Yongala, has stated that he never had

known a better sea boat than the

latter ship. On the outward run between 

Sydney and the West Australian terminal 

port the coastal steamers usually are well 

laden; but on the return voyage frequently

their cargo does not exceed 100 tons in

weight.

On her last fatal trip, however,

the steamer was carrying 2000 tons

of cargo, ballast, and bunker coal.

The only deck cargo she carried, as

previously stated, was a racehorse, a

stud bull, and 5 tons of kerosene.

The steamer was well protected

against the possibility of shipwreck

by ordinary means, having a double

bottom, which ran practically from

stem to stern, with the exception 

of that portion lying under the 

engine room. In addition to this, 

she was provided with water ballast tanks,

which covered practically the same

area. These tanks were strongly

constructed, the ship having been built

by the famous firm of Armstrong,

Whitworth, and Co., the inner side

of them being some 4ft off the

bottom and sides of the ship.

Provided, therefore, the ship had her

true and false bottom both ripped

out by grazing a reef or rock, there

still would be the water tanks between 

her holds and the sea.

The only rock of any significance which Yongala could have struck was Nares rock, which as I have pointed out in previous posts, would not have equated with the distribution of wreckage found along the Queensland coast. The mere fact that much of the cargo discovered came from the lower hold does suggest that Yongala's side was ripped out. However, this is not the only way in which cargo can be liberated - main hatches failing due to the intensity of the forces causing the vessel to founder. 

It is interesting to note that the double bottom did not include the area directly beneath the engine room which suggests a weak link in protection provided to the steamer. If such a modality is to provide protection, surely it stands to reason that it should be universal and not selective along the length of the hull?

Although the Inquiry suggested only 1 ton of cargo on deck, this report suggests as much as 5 tons of kerosene which could have become dislodged during the cyclone - as had happened previously in another gale - destabilising the Yongala and contributing to her turning over. What the reporter failed to mention is that when Yongala plied the West Australia route she had 150 tons of pig iron to stabilise her. This was taken out long before Yongala sailed into the cyclone, March 23, 1911.

The fact that Yongala only carried just over 600 tons of cargo, made her vulnerable from a GM point of view to the forces exerted by a cyclone. From commentary thus far it does start to emerge that there were marine observers who were concerned that the Yongala had turned over in the storm. This would have had serious implications reverting back to the design of Yongala and Grantala and a degree of responsibility for the accident carried by the owners.

WRECKS FROM THE PAST.

The Advertiser (Adelaide) Wednesday 5 April, 1911.

A WRECK OF THE PAST.

THE LOCH VENNACHAR DISASTER.

The tragic fate of the Yongala recalls

another marine disaster that occurred five

years ago, namely, the loss of the well

known Australian trader Loch Vennachar.

It may be remembered that the Yongala

spoke the Loch Vennachar on September 6,

1905. "all well," and was the last vessel

that saw the fine old clipper before she went

to her doom with all hands on the Young

Rocks, South Australia, a few days later.

A South Australian, Mr. William Barry,

was among the crew of the Loch Vennachar. 

His father is Captain Barry, of the Warrawee, 

which is at present engaged in trade between 

Port Adelaide and Yorke Peninsula.

A SURVIVOR OF THE. GOTHENBURG.

Mr. J. W. Falk, a resident of Reynolds-

street, Yatala, was an A.B. on the ill-fated 

steamer Gothenburg, when she was

wrecked off the Queensland coast in 1875.

He was much interested in reading the

account of that sad maritime catastrophe

published in "The Advertiser" of Tuesday.

Mr. Falk stated that Captain Pearce, the

commander of the Gothenburg, perished

with the vessel, being washed from his

position just outside the bridge by a big

wave as the vessel lav broadside on.

"When I saw him last." added Mr. Falk,

"he was standing bareheaded and bare-

footed." Mr. Falk was one of the four

who landed on Hermann Island in one of

the steamer's boats on the day following

the disaster. "I don't think." he said, "I

should have been saved had it not been 

for one of the others. He came to me as I

stood aft, and said I had better leave as

the engine-room was full of water, and

there was no hope of saving the vessel.

As we pulled over the reef to shore we

could see sharks and turtles beneath us.

The boat was smashed up eventually.'' For

three years after the loss of the Gothenburg 

Mr. Falk was employed as a light-house-keeper 

at the Bowen Lighthouse. The practice then 

was for steamers to anchor at night. He 

considered the coast, owing to the inlands and 

reefs, of such a dangerous character, that no 

vessel in bad weather could negotiate it with 

safety in the dark.

Mr. Falk, with significant experience at Bowen LIghthouse, reminds us that the coastline along which Yongala steamed, was dangerous at night in bad weather. It was generally accepted that under such circumstances steamers anchored for the night. This is what Captain Knight should have done instead of pushing his vessel into the heart of the cyclone, risking the lives of all on board.

Sir - Having travelled the Queensland

coast a good many times, and been a

passenger between here and Sydney in 

the ill-fated Yongala, I have read everything 

you have published with special interest, 

knowing the boat and the locality where she

was lost. My personal recollection

of the wreck of the Gothenburg

in the same locality is still strong. 

A party of us left a claim in the

Northern Territory to catch the steamer,

but the road being boggy the spring-dray

was delayed. Our two mates, David

H-- and Engineer Edgar, not being

cumbered with luggage, went on, leaving 

myself, wife, and family to come on by the

next steamer, which we did. The Gothenburg 

was foolishly lost through an error of 

judgment. Edgar was drowned, but David 

(belonging to Willaston), was among the 

few saved, and one of the first things I 

did after reaching Adelaide was to identify 

him for his share of the Gothenburg fund. 

From him I got all that could be known 

about the wreck. 

He said: "We had a splendid, quick trip 

from Port Darwin up to the afternoon, 

when Captain Pearce decided to leave 

the inside passage and pass through the 

Flinders opening into the open ocean and 

make a straight run for Sydney. We were 

going along very quickly, with the water as 

smooth as glass, just after dark, when the 

steamer ran up a flat reef. There was no 

panic, and the captain told us that we should 

get off all right in the morning. Most of the 

passengers went to bed, but I did not, as 

I noticed the after part was low in the water, 

and as I passed along the deck I looked 

down in the engineroom and saw that the 

machinery was partly covered with water. 

A few of us went as far forward as we could 

get. Towards morning Edgar left me to go 

below for his money, and I did not see him 

again. I said, inter alia-"Did it not strike any 

of you that the fact of your being in such

smooth water was a clear indication that

the steamer was under the lee of the reef

and not in the Flinders opening at all?"

He said. "No, everything was going along

as pleasant as could be, and we knew that

going through the opening would shorten

the trip a lot." When the panic arose

before daylight the next morning through

the vessel breaking her back, the loss of

life was awful and rapid." The Hon.Thomas 

Reynolds-who had been living for some 

time in Port Darwin with his wife was 

drowned, together with Judge Wearing, 

who with Whitby had been on circuit, and 

most of those who had made anything in 

the Northern Territory perished in the wreck. 

It was always my opinion that Captain Pearce 

could have saved his life had he cared to do 

so, but he must have been paralysed by the

disaster, and had probably erred by edging 

off east before he passed Cape Bowling 

Green, and not allowed enough for the 

constant set of the current. He knew what 

the current was, as on a former occasion when 

his steamer grounded farther north I was pulling 

with him in a boat, when we had the greatest 

difficulty to get back to the ship. The Queensland

coast has been pretty well charted afresh

since then, but still the wonder is not that

a vessel has been lost, but that so many

pass safely through such a maze. The loss

of the Gothenburg caused much sorrow

here, and damned the progress of the

Northern Territory to a great extent. The

present loss, too, affects us locally in the

case of young Gale, known to many of us

from the way in which he had worked himself 

up in his profession. I think we might 

reasonably raise a fund to mark the loss 

of those South Australians who are

gone. I am sure you, as usual, would

take charge of such, and enclose my mite.

-I am, &c.,

W.B.

[Our correspondent encloses 5/ as a

subscription towards the suggested fund.-

Ed.

Risk-taking was not unique and there does seem to be an element of getting steamers to their destinations as quickly as possible!

SS Gothenburg (courtesy wikipedia)

RODE OUT THE STORM.

The Advertiser (Adelaide) Wednesday 5 April, 1911.

RODE OUT THE STORM.

THE COOMA'S EXPERIENCE.

The Howard Smith liner Cooma rode out

in Mackay Harbor the cyclone which

wrecked the Yongala. The Cooma was a

little late arriving there, and at dusk they

were informed on board by signal that a

cyclone was reported north-east of 

Bowen. Captain Smith decided to go into 

Mackay Harbor. Later on driving rain fell

heavily, and although one attempt was

made to get out, the vessel could not do

so, owing to the weather closing in again.

Eventually the Cooma left at 2 o'clock on

the next day. At the time they endeavored 

to go out the rain was falling in such

torrents that Round-top was shut out of

sight. Quite an ordinary passage was

experienced to Townsville, while on the

return trip nothing of an untoward 

character happened.

Captain Smith says that he overtook the

Yongala on the voyage up the Queensland

coast, leaving her up as far as Lady Elliott's. 

The Yongala at the time was well in hand and 

running under easy steam, as it was not 

necessary for her to arrive at Mackay till 

daylight. At Dent Island Captain Smith 

hailed the station, and enquired which side 

of the Whitsunday Passage the Yongala 

had taken. The answer was that the Yongala 

went through at 6 o'clock on Thursday night,

March 23. That was the normal time for

her to be there. The Yongala was to the

northward of the passage. "As for us,"

added the captain, "we suffered nothing

except for the rain."

This is a fascinating account loaded with revealing information. We know that Yongala did not have a Marconi set. This was widely quoted as one of the reasons why Captain Knight was unaware of the extent of the cyclone into which he sailed. However, Captain Smith made the point that he was warned by signal of the cyclone and took shelter at Mackay harbour. 

It does appear more and more that Captain Knight was a risk-taker.