REVISED PASSENGER LIST.

The Mercury, Hobart, Thursday 30 March, 1911.

When the Yongala left Mackay on

Thursday last she had on board the

following first saloon passengers.

For Townsville.-

Mr., Mrs., and Miss Rooney, 

Miss Uhr, 

Miss Buxton,

Mr. Stach,

Mr. and Mrs. Elsdale,

Mr. F. Voney, 

Miss P. Carroll, 

Mr. and Mrs. W. Lin, 

Miss M. Shannon.

For Cairns.

Miss Davids,

Mrs and Miss Murray, three children, and maid.

Mr. and Mrs. Reath,

Mr. W. J. Fulton, 

Mr. A. S. Dette, 

Mr. M. Parton,

Mr. S. Manwaring,

Mrs. M. A. Woodward, and 

Nurse Magee.

The second saloon passengers for

Townsville were:-

Mr. and Mrs. Manhey, 

Mr. O. F. Thompson, 

Mr. Barclay,

Mr. A. Carraroy,

Mr. K. Tareeves,

Mr. F. Brickenrige, 

Mr. E. Schneider, 

Mr. W. Coade, 

Mr. R. Coade, 

Mr.F. Sutherland, and 

Mr. J. Sutherland.

The second saloon passengers for

Cairns were:-

Mr. D. J. Jolley,

Mr. D. Davis,

Mr. A. Peauta , 

Mr. W. Griffiths, 

Mr. E. E. Pankhurst.

A lady named Miss Gaffney had booked 

a first saloon passage for Innisfail

some time in advance of the sailing

of the vessel, but it is not known
whether she was actually on board.

Fix this textwhether she was actually on board.

Campbell not listed.

BAROMETER DROPPED FROM 29.75 TO 21.25!

The Advertiser, Adelaide, Tuesday 13 June, 1911.

Captain Sim:

He was in charge of the Grantala at the 

time the Yongala, disappeared. He was 

anchored off Cape Bowling Green because 

of the bad weather.After he had anchored it 

gradually got worse, and the wind veered 

round by west from south-east to north-west. 

He then knew he was on the right-hand 

semi-circle of the cyclone. He did not think 

Captain Knight would take the inside course 

through the Whitsunday Channel at night. 

and especially such a night as March 23. 

When the witness left Townsville that night 

the barometer was 29.75 and it went down 

to 21.25 later.

Questioned as to the force of the wind

that night, Captain Sim said that when he

was anchored it was not more than 71

miles per hour. He had it broadside on

for a time, and it did not give the Grantala

a list of more then 10 deg. The wind

was heaviest between 5 pm. and 3 am.

The witness did not notice anything 

phenomenal in the currents or tides 

that night. He did not think the Yongala 

could have been overcome by the elements 

alone. He thought she must have struck

something. He would rank the Yongala 

with the best boats on the Queensland

coast.

Captain Sim was caught between a rock and a hard place at the Inquiry. He wanted to be as truthful as possible but ended up delivering mixed messages. He knew Captain Knight well and must have had difficulty imparting a vital untruth that Captain Knight was likely to have used the outside passage on the night of 23 March. Captain Knight had only used the outside passage on about 3 occasions and for the rest had used the inside passage in darkness and bad weather. But the outside passage was crucial to avoid aspersions cast in the direction of the Queensland Marine Board - dearth of morse lamps at lighthouses along the Queensland Coast - see previous post.

Although Captain Sim came to the odd conclusion that he did not think 'the Yongala could have been overcome by the elements', and played down the force of the wind (Grantala only listed to 10 degrees) and the currents / tides as nothing out of the ordinary, he dropped a bombshell in the form of; 'the barometer was 29.75 and it went down to 21.25 later'. This extreme change in barometer reading was more likely to have been 29.75 down to 29.25 but still suggests a storm of exceptional violence. So much so, trees were uprooted in a swathe 15 miles broad. If Captain Sim had truly believed the storm to be not that severe why on earth did he anchor in Bowling Green Bay? After all his Grantala was identical to Yongala and if Yongala could have 'managed in the elements', why couldn't Grantala??

This poor man must have felt terrible after he stepped down from the witness stand. He was a loyal employee of the Adelaide Steamship Company and a prominent master of the Queensland coastal trade. Perhaps he hoped that the truth would emerge via expert cross-examination. However, Captain Mackay, representing the Queensland Marine Board had no intention of allowing the true facts to emerge into the light of public opinion.

courtesy the Australian National Maritime Museum.

MAILS AND PASSENGERS.

Bendigo Advertiser, Saturday 1 April, 1911.

The Yongala had on board 120 bags of

mails, including 21 bags from Melbourne

and Sydney. She also had 79 registered

articles and 43 receptacles, containing 533

parcels.

Some sad facts are related in connection 

with the disaster. Miss P. Carroll, one of 

the vessel's passengers, was travelling 

from Brisbane to Townsville to see her 

sister who was dangerously ill. Their mother 

died only a few months ago and Miss Carroll 

was the main support of her home. She had 

charge, during the trip, of Mona Shannon, 

aged 33 years, who was returning to Townsville,

where her mother is now frantic with

grief.

Mr. Matthew Rooney, his wife. and

young daughter were residents of Townsville. 

Mr. Rooney was a very prominent

citizen of 35 years' standing, and was the

head of a big firm of limber merchants

and shipowners. He leaves a grown-up

family. He was nearly too late for the

steamer when leaving Brisbane, and Mrs.

Rooney expressed the hope that they would

be late.

One of the passengers by the ill-fated

vessel, named Smith, rushed down to the

steamer just as she was casting off. His

destination was Charters Towers.

Mrs. Murray was returning to Cairns

from New South Wales with four children,

the youngest of which its father had not

seen.

A lady resident in Brisbane is distracted 

because she induced her brother,

who was on the Yongala, to delay his 

departure from Brisbane for a week.

Many bereaved persons are completely

prostrated, and in some cases not a word

has escaped their lips since hope of the

vessel's safety has vanished. A wife of

a fireman on the steamer waited until mid

night at one of the newspaper offices on

Monday night for news. She declared she

had no fears for the safety of her husband, 

because he was such a good swimmer.

How these people must have anguished at the mercy of lip service delivered by the Court of Inquiry.

WIRELESS INSTALLATIONS.

The Advertiser, Adelaide, Saturday 1 April, 1911.

MR. HUNT URGES ITS ADOPTION.

Melbourne, March 31.

Mr. Hunt, the Federal Meteorologist,

suggests that the wreck of the Yongala 

advances yet another argument for the 

general equipment of at least all passenger

steamers with a wireless installation, so that

vessels making long runs on the coastline

may be warned of the existence, approach,

or development, of dangerous weather 

conditions. The department, he points out,

addressed a circular note to all companies

whose vessels carry wireless installation,

and has without exception received promises 

of co-operation. Owing to the absence of land 

stations, only one message has been received, 

which was followed up by an account for 50/. 

He advises that at the next meeting of the 

shipping interests the subject of co-operation 

with the department should be discussed, and 

its decision communicated to the Government.

Yongala, like Waratah, was due to have a wireless system installed after this final, fatal voyage. Although never to be Mr. Hunt made the point abundantly clear - there was no use having a wireless if there were no land stations to transmit warnings.

YONGALA MYSTERY SOLVED.

The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, Monday 19 July, 1954.

Corvette 'solved'

Yongala mystery

The 3500-ton Yongala was reported to have disappeared in a

cyclone between Bowen and Townsville on March 23, 1911,

but it has also been suggested that the ship sank near 

Rockhampton.

E. J. Whereat (C-M 28/6/54) says that the

Yongala disappeared in a cyclone between Bowen

and Home Hill.

Might I add that various

vessels searched for the

Yongala after she had been

reported missing.

The Yongala left Mackay

Anchorage at 1.40 pm on

March 23, 1911, and passed

Dent Island (in the middle of

Whitsunday Passage) at 6.30

pm the same day.

The ss Cooma left the same

anchorage a few hours later,

but by the time she arrived

at the passage the weather

was so thick that she was

compelled to anchor.

The ss Grantala, a sister

ship, left Townsville the

same evening, and was 

compelled to anchor at Cape

Bowling Green. Both these

ships and crews were thus

probably saved.

The ss Tarcoola and other

vessels unsuccessfully searched

for some weeks.

Found 'patch'

More than 30 years later,

one of our corvettes on a

passage from Townsville to

Brisbane, when off Cape

Bowling Green, found a patch

of shoal water with six

fathoms, among 12 and 14

fathoms soundings.

She steamed over the patch

numerous times and it 

coincided with the exact 

dimensions of the Yongala 

in length and breadth. It has 

since been surmised that the

mystery of where she foundered 

has been solved.

This obstruction is shown

on our charts 084 degrees 11

miles from Cape Bowling

Green Lighthouse, and is dead

on the track of ships bound

for Townsville — R. G. Ledley,

553 Vulture Street, East Brisbane.

Beach 'finds'

WHEN the Yongala was

wrecked in March, 1911,

I was living in Ingham, which

was long before the advent of

the railway to those parts.

On the following week-end,

I was one of a party who 

patrolled Halifax Beach, 25 miles

north of Townsville, and

picked up two mail bags intact; 

also what appeared to

be the top of a piano stool

bearing the steamer's name.

I also later received two

personal letters from Brisbane, 

and handled several business 

letters that came out

of the ill-fated ship. The party

also counted 80 bags of onions

which had been washed ashore

in the area. — Victor Short,

Kilcoy.

Heard shot

A box of hats for McKimmin 

and Richardson of Townsville, 

a suit case belonging to Mrs. 

Manbys, of Charters Towers, 

passengers' luggage, a music 

room door and a cribbage board, 

bearing the name Yongala, were

washed up on the beach at

Palm Island, owned at that

time by a Mr. Butler.

At 9 am on the day the

ship was reported missing,

Mr. T. Mitton and I were

shifting some of his cattle to

high ground when we heard

three loud blasts of a ship's

whistle and a shot 'like a dis

tress signal.' I swam the

Hannah branch of the lower

Burdekin and went to Ayr,

about 10 or 12 miles, and 

reported this to the Post Office, 

from where a message

was sent to Harbour Master at

Townsville.

From where we were, the

direction would be east of

Cape Bowling Green. — E. Tappenden, 

31 Manson Parade,Yeronga.

Whether the loud blasts were heard at 9 am or 9 pm this did not coincide with the final moments of the Yongala. But it is intriguing nonetheless.

none Help

FINALLY, CULPABILITY.

The Advertiser, Adelaide, Thursday 30 March, 1911.

THE YONGALA'S PROBABLE 

TRACK. 

DESCRIPTION OF THE COASTLINE. 

Captain D. Kerr, master of the Adelaide 

Steamship Company's steamer Marloo, 

which arrived at Port Adelaide from Western 

Australian ports on Wednesday evening, 

heard with deep regret the news of 

the missing steamer Yongala. Captain 

Kerr was for a long time engaged on the 

Queensland coast, and when asked for a 

description of the track usually taken by 

steamers, he said: 

"The usual track from Dent Island is 

to steer half a mile off the Dent Island 

lighthouse. Then to steer a various course 

in passing the many islets in a north-west 

direction until past Gloucester Head, one 

and a quarter miles distant, which is at 

the northern entrance to Whitsunday 

Passage. From there a direct course is taken 

north-west for about 70 miles, which carries 

the vessel to about six miles off Cape 

Bowling Green Lighthouse. The steamer 

then steers northwest for about 28 miles 

which would bring her to the Cape 

Cleveland lighthouse. Cape Cleveland 

forms one of the sides of Cleveland Bay, 

in which Townsville is situated. A further run 

from the cape of ten miles takes 

the vessel into Townsville Harbor. 

Captain Kerr called it as it was. No more beating about the bush about the inshore, inside route taken by masters of coastal steamers. This was the very thing the Inquiry wanted to avoid. But not only did Captain Kerr call them out, he provided confirmation with detailed instructions (directions).

It is interesting to note that the Yongala wreck is 11 miles off Cape Bowling Green and the course, as described, was 6 miles off the coast. This suggests that Yongala was 5 miles out of her course, further out to sea.  

Following the ordinary fine weather course as 

described the vessel would pass Nares' 

Rock, five and a half miles to the westward 

of that danger. When abreast of 

Cape upstart, the inner edge of the Barrier Reef 

would be about 13 miles distant, 

and the Queensland coastline about 10 miles

distant. 

The Barrier Reef is the nearest 

submerged danger. It is covered with 

boulders, partly dry at half ebb time. At 

high water these boulders are completely 

covered. There is deep water close to 

the reef. From abreast of Cape Upstart, 

fairly clear water is met with until in the 

vicinity of Cape Bowling Green, off which 

three to three and a half miles from the 

mainland there are some outlying reefs. 

This is interesting. There was an immediate threat off Cape Bowling Green in the form of outlying reefs, 3.5 miles out. Under normal circumstances, masters set a course 6 miles off the coast at this point, allowing a slim margin of 2.5 miles. 

When Yongala went down 11 miles off Cape Bowling Green the course might very well have been intentional, giving Captain Knight sea-room to maneouvre and avoid running aground. Deeper water would also have been the choice in severe storm conditions.

But anything beyond this brought the Barrier Reef into sharp focus, another imminent threat.

Nares' Rock is only 26 ft. high, and therefore 

is very dangerous. Holbourne Island, 

close by, is 360 ft. high. I do not wish to 

theorise as to the fate of the Yongala." 

Within the reef along the coast there is 

generally a calm sea, owing to the reef 

acting as a breakwater. The inside route 

is one that requires careful navigation, 

particularly at night, when the reef cannot 

be discerned at a greater distance than 

half a mile. In daylight it is said to be visible 

at a distance of four miles from the bridge 

and seven from the rigging. Sailing vessels 

which take the inner passage usually anchor 

at night for safety. 

Again the point is well made that this was a dangerous route in conditions of poor visibility. But Captain Knight was experienced and able to find the sensible middle course.

Steaming from Mackay to Townsville, a 

distance of 208 miles, the coastline is 

studded with numbers of small islands, 

and in thick weather navigation is extremely 

difficult. Shortly after leaving Mackay several 

small groups of islands, the largest being the 

Blacksmith group, are encountered. These are 

not difficult to avoid in clear weather, but if the 

atmosphere be at all hazy great care has to 

be taken owing to the strong currents. 

Dent Island, mentioned in the telegrams, 

lies at the southern entrance to Whitsunday 

Passage, and is provided with a lighthouse. 

It was from this lighthouse (says the Melbourne 

"Argus") that the Yongala was last seen. It is a 

matter for regret that there is no telegraphic 

communication between the lighthouse and 

the mainland. Between Dent Island and the 

Queensland coast is a small islet called 

Pine Island. Whitsunday Passage at this 

spot is only two and a half miles wide. 

Behind Pine Island is Cod Bay, a sheltered 

harbor, often used by ships in bad 

weather. The search vessels expected to 

find the Yongala in this bay. 

Contrary to previous press information, Dent Island did not have direct communication with the mainland which might explain why the warning of a cyclone off Bowen was not relayed to Flat Top AND Dent Island. 

If Dent Island had received the warning, this could have been relayed to Yongala via flag signals - daylight (5.00 p.m.) and reasonable visibility at that stage. 

It is a further likely reason why the Inquiry insisted that Yongala passed Dent Island at 6.35 p.m. well after dark and because Dent did not have Morse, a warning could not have been issued to the steamer rendering direct communications with the mainland a moot point.

This was clearly a weak link in the culpability of Queensland State. There should have been communications between Dent Island and the mainland and there should have been a Morse lamp. 

Perhaps this is why Adelaide, the port of register for Yongala, insisted that the Inquiry be conducted in Brisbane.

Come on Queensland, own up to your share of culpability in this disaster!!

'DON'T WORRY MOTHER.'

The Advertiser Adelaide, Thursday 30 March, 1911.

"DON'T WORRY, MOTHER." 

YOUNG STEWARD'S LETTER HOME. 

One of the stewards of the Yongala, 

Mr. William Murray, aged 18 years, 

is a son of Mr. John Murray, an engine 

driver in the employ of the South Australian 

Railway Department, residing at 

Commercial road, Yatala. On the day 

the vessel left Brisbane the lad wrote home 

to his mother, saying, "Don't worry, 

mother. I am on a good ship, and after 

six months' service I will come home and 

obtain a position on land." The boy's 

mother is at present dangerously ill, and 

the other members of the family, on that 

account, had kept her ignorant of the vessel's 

disappearance. When the news came through 

that some of the cargo had been 

found on Cape Bowing Green beach they 

decided to break the sad news. With a 

desire to see the world the lad had 

expressed his intention of joining a boat 

bound for England. His mother, however, 

prevailed upon him not to go so far away, 

and he decided to join the Yongala. The 

boy's father is an engine driver between 

Glanville and the Outer Harbor. He is 

popular in the service, and highly respected. 

For many years he was a driver 

on the north line. 

Mr. William Murray, prior to going to sea, 

was initiated, with his father, as a 

member of the Good Samaritan Lodge.