PASSENGERS FROM MELBOURNE.

The Argus, Melbourne, Thursday 30 March, 1911.

MELBOURNE PASSENGERS.

ONLY TWO BOOKED.

RESIDENTS OF YERING.

Only two of the passengers on the 

ill-fated Yongala embarked at Melbourne.

They were Messrs. Richard and Walter 

Coude, second-class passengers, who 

reside at Yering, and who were travelling

to Townsville. A letter was received from 

Mr. William Coade, of Yering, by the Adelaide

S. S. Company yesterday, asking to be informed 

whether the Messrs. Coade left the steamer at 

Mackay, or went on to Townsville. It is not known 

whether he is their father or brother.

Mr. Rudolph A. Stach, accountant at the

Townsville office of the Adelaide S.S

Company, and a former resident of

Melbourne, was also a passenger, but

he joined the vessel at Sydney.

Mr Stach's brother, who is a traveller for

Messrs. Lawrence and Co, oil and paint

merchants, Collins street, lives in Melbourne.

A TERRIBLE DRIFT.

The Brisbane Courier, Thursday 6 April, 1911.

A TERRIBLE DRIFT.

Captain Lawson, of the dredge Willunga, 

who has been on the coast since the early 

eighties, and has an intimate knowledge of 

that portion from Mackay to Townsville, stated 

that there was a big set out from the direction 

of the mouth of the Burdekin in the hurricane. 

When no leads could be obtained, and no land

picked up, it would be impossible for a ship's 

captain to estimate the rate of drift. In fine 

weather, after a severe blow, it had been known 

to run sometimes six miles an hour. If the Yongala 

was caught in that drift, Captain Knight would have 

no means of telling where the drift was taking him. 

No captain living could do so. On one occasion when

the Burdekin was in flood, Captain Lawson said he 

tried to get in there, but could not do so. On the day 

the Gothenburg was wrecked on the Barrier Reef, 

Captain Lawson was sailing the vessel Diamond. 

She was blown ashore on to the sand at Cape Bowling 

Green. The Gothenburg passed at 5 o'clock in the

afternoon. Three hours afterwards she was wrecked. 

The Diamond afterwards got off the sand with a king 

tide. After the hurricane had passed the strength of 

the drift from the land could easily be seen. Captain 

Lawson added that it is probable that the Yongala was 

caught in such a drift.

We know from the facts at hand that Yongala foundered at a position exactly within the standard course for Townsville. Captain Lawson makes the point that it would have been very difficult to maintain such a course in cyclonic conditions. We know that Captain Knight used the inside passage and although it was regarded as injudicious I am left with an impression that Captain Knight was a remarkable master. I believe he thought he was outrunning a storm rather than steaming into one and Yongala's final position proves, in my opinion, that Captain Knight was a supreme commander. I am filled with admiration!

A PATHETIC INCIDENT.

The Brisbane Courier, Thursday 6 April 1911.

A PATHETIC INCIDENT.

Many pathetic incidents can be recorded 

as a result of the calamity connected with 

the loss of the Yongala. A husband laments 

in Cairns the death of his wife, waits and 

watches for the arrival of the newspaper, 

and anxiously scans the face of his employer, 

looking for a gleam of hope. The man is 

Yarry Linedale, an aboriginal employed 

by Mr. A. Murray. Yarry's wife Mary, is a full

blooded aboriginal. She was Mrs. Murray's 

nurse girl, and was returning with them from 

the Blue Mountains in the Yongala. Yarry and 

Mary are old residents of the Port Douglas 

and Cairns districts, and have been several 

years with Mr. and Mrs. Murray, to whom as 

well as to the children, both were devotedly 

attached. Mary went to her death with her

mistress. Yarry waits and weeps at home. 

He is only an aboriginal-true, but who will 

gauge the measure of his grief ?

PECULIAR STORM.

The Western Champion, Saturday 1 April.

Apparently the captain headed for the 

wider water beyond the Passage, and 

was overpowered by the extreme force 

of the hurricane. The storm was of quite

exceptional violence, as was shown by

the fact of the Taiynan having two

of her boats blown away while sheltering 

in a passage a mile wide between

the mainland and the island (Repulse). 

The hurricane took a course inland, and

was then diverted with increased force

down the coast, where the Yongala

would have met it at its worst.

I guess there will be no end to the confusion surrounding the nature of the storm, 23 March, 1911. The Inquiry was quite clear on the matter; a cyclone some 30 n miles in diameter moving from the northeast in a southwestward direction overland between Cape Bowling Green and Cape Upstart - not diverted south, and certainly not directly influencing the  area in proximity to Repulse Islands, some 100 n miles to the south.

NO CYCLONE WARNING?

The following extract from the previous post:

The Grantala, which is a sister ship to the 

Yongala, left Townsville at 4 pm. on Thursday, 

and arrived off Cape Bowling Green about 

7.30 p.m. the same day. As it was then blowing 

very strongly the captain decided to anchor. 

Much has been said about the cyclone warning which was patched through to Flat-Top shortly after Yongala departed at 1.40 pm, 23 March. The above extract suggests that Captain Sim of the Grantala departed Townsville INTO THE CYCLONE at 4 pm, 23 March.  Why was he not warned and why did Grantala not remain in Port??

I am of the firm belief that the system for reporting imminent cyclones along the Queensland coast was deficient. The meteorological bureau at Brisbane had reported the approach of a severe cyclone shortly after Yongala departed Flat-Top which implies that Townsville (almost at the heart of the so-called cyclone) received the same warning. Why did Captain Sim depart under these circumstances as late as 4pm??

I can only think that either the message was not relayed, which is peculiar considering the worst of the 'cyclone' was anticipated off Townsville, or the message was received and Captain Sim made the call to depart Townsville nonetheless. If it were the latter the explanation might revert back to a common thread presented by captains off that part of the coast late 23 March; they did not believe it was a classical cyclone but rather a frontal system moving up the coast. If this were the case, there is enough solid reason for departing Townsville and making a judgment call as the voyage progressed. This call was made off Cape Bowling Green and Captain Sim weighed anchor for the night.

It is strange that this crucial issue did not warrant cross-examination at the Inquiry.

SS Grantala

WELL DOWN TOWARDS HER LOAD LINE.

The Western Champion, Saturday 1 April, 1911.

The Yongala was well down towards

her loadline, having altogether 1800

tons of dead weight below her decks.

Inquiry:

The vessel left Brisbane on the 21st March with a total dead weight of 1,885 tons, fully manned, equipped, in excellent trim, draft aft 22 feet 6 inches, forward 17 feet 9 inches, leaving a clear side of 10 feet 6 inches,

....roughly an overall draught of 20 ft. which is 4 ft. short of loadline, not well down to it!! Protesting Yongala's stability despite the facts.

This reminds me of the Koombana disaster and the following quote (wikipedia):

She is said to have been "... built to scrape into the most horrible little bays and estuaries," and "... slightly unstable because [she] had to be shallow enough to get over the sandbar at Port Hedland.

SS Koombana:

Tonnage:	3,668 GRT
Length:	340 ft 1 in (103.66 m)
Beam:	48 ft 2 in (14.68 m)
Draft:	20 ft 8 in (6.30 m)
Installed power:	4,000 hp (3,000 kW)
Propulsion:	Inverted steam engines
Crew:	74

SS Yongala:

3664 gross tons

1825 net tons

350 ft. length

45.2 ft. beam

27.2 ft. depth of hold
30.5 ft. hull depth

These two steamers shared so much more than specification similarities and their stories were almost a case of deja vu. I have every intention of following up this blog with one devoted to the Koombana disaster...

SS Koombana

SS Yongala

MORE ON PASSENGERS AND PORT ACCESS.

The Western Champion, Saturday 1 April, 1911.

Among the passengers were Mrs.

Murray, wife of a solicitor at Cairns,

who was returning home from a trip

south with her family of two boys and

two girls, and probably another sister

just out from Scotland. Mrs. Murray

was a sister-in-law to Mrs. Berrie, of

the Post and Telegraph Dept., Barcaldine ; 

Mr. J. O'Brien, traveller for Brisbane firm, 

was another passenger. Mr. O'Brien was 

in Barcaldine a fortnight  ago. He intended 

going across to Winton  from Longreach 

en route to the Towers, but finding the road 

impassable returned to Rockhampton and 

boarded the Yongala for Townsville. Another 

passenger was Mr. M. Rooney, a well-known 

Townsville timber merchant, has already been 

twice wrecked. His wife and daughter were 

also on board.

Rockhampton:

Mr. T. Kelly, chairman of the Harbour

Board, said the new dredger, Archer, was

doing excellent work, and the board expected 

in twelve months to have a depth of 20ft. in 

the river at dead low water spring tides right 

from the Bay to the town wharves.

This gives a further important insight into the limitations posed by silting of river mouths accessing ports such as Rockhampton. This was a very real limitation affecting draughts of steamers plying the Queensland coastal trade. Yongala's relatively low draught, enhancing top heaviness, was a necessity for the trade. Ballasting became the watchword for safety and it did not help matters that cargo was routinely loaded on deck and in the case of Yongala's final voyage, heavier cargo loaded ABOVE lighter cargo in number 3 hold - oh dear - the Queensland Marine Board certainly had reason to steer Yongala into a 'perils of the sea finale'.