OVERDUE AT TOWNSVILLE

The Advertiser (Adelaide) Monday 27 March, 1911.

THE STEAMER YONGALA.

OVERDUE AT TOWNSVILLE.

Brisbane, March 26.

Advice has been received by the Adelaide

Steamship Company that the steamer Yongala, 

which left Flat-top at 2 o'clock on Thursday (23rd)

afternoon, was due at Townsville on Friday, 

but had not yet arrived. The steamers Cooma 

and Taiyun, which passed northwards 24 hours 

later than the Yongala, did not see her. It is 

possible the machinery may have broken 

down or the vessel may be sheltering.

VESSELS SENT IN SEARCH.

Brisbane, March 26.

Mr. Wareham, general manager in

Queensland for the Adelaide Steamship

Company, was in constant communication

with Townsville throughout Saturday. Mr.

Wareham, in addition to trying to obtain

tidings of the Yongala, has instructed the

Townsville officers and the company's two

cargo steamers Tarcoola, and Ouraka, to

search for the Yongala, the former vessel

to steam along the outside of Whitsunday

Passage, on the ocean fringe, and the latter 

to work about inside the passage - Both

boats are making for Mackay. As regards

the report from Dent Island, it is apparent 

that the vessel steamed up the inside 

passage. Dent Island, however, is only 

four hours' steam  north from Flat Top Island, 

which the Yongala  left at about 2 p.m. on 

Thursday. That was the latest news heard 

of her. Mr. Wareham stated to-night that 

considerable anxiety is felt for the Yongala, 

more especially in view of the cyclonic weather 

conditions which have been prevailing in the 

north during the past few days. The 

passenger-list on leaving Brisbane was 

as follows:-

Mesdames Reath, Davids, Rooney, Elsdale, 

M. A. Woodward, Murray and three children, 

W. Lin. and Marbey, Misses Rooney, Murray,

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

McGee, and Messrs. Reath, Rooney, A. S.

Dette, T. Parton, R. Stack, Elsdale, F.

Voney. J. Fulton, F. C. Must, S. Mainwaring, 

W. Lin, E. S. Chneider, P. Buckenridge, 

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

Real, and R. Bonnarder, and 31 in the second 

saloon. The crew numbers 70.

Mr. Wareham, general manager of the

Adelaide Steamship Company, at 10 p.m.

received a telegram from Mackay to the

affect that the steamer Tarcoola arrived at

that place at 7 o'clock this evening, having

searched Whitsunday Passage for the over-

due steamer. The company's steamers

Ouraka and Tarcoola, which left Townsville 

on Saturday to search, met outside

Whitsunday Passage at 4 o'clock this afternoon, 

having searched from Townsville along the 

Barrier Reef to the south of Dent Island 

without finding a trace of the Yongala. 

The Ouraka proceeded north at 4 o'clock 

to make a further search among the

islands and bays in Whitsunday Passage.

The Tarcoola also left Mackay again to-

night to continue the search in Whitsunday

Passage, and will signal to the lighthouse

keeper at Bowen to-morrow, advising the

result of the search. The Wodonga arrived 

at Bowen this evening from the north, but 

did not sight the missing vessel. The 

steamer Cooma also arrived at Mackay 

without news. The Tarcoola  and Ouraka 

both called at Dent Island on the trip 

down from Townsville, and the officer in 

charge advised that the Yongala passed that 

point at 6 35 p.m. on Thursday. Mr. Wareham 

says this shows that the Yongala must have 

gone through the passage, and at present 

the outlook is not hopeful.

The steamer Cooma, from Townsville,

arrived at Flat-top to-day and reported 

that Dent Island signalled that the Yongala

passed there, bound north, at 6 p.m. on

Thursday.

The steamer Caroo, which left Townsville

for Sydney some days ago for repairs, has

put in to Moreton Bay to-day. It is presumed 

to be owing to rough weather.

AN OPTIMISTIC OPINION.

Townsville, March 26.

The chief officer of the Cooma is optimistic 

regarding the position of the steamer

Yongala. He is of opinion that she was

struck by the full force of a cyclone, and

from discretionary motives left the ordinary 

lane and tended either for the east

or back to Glastone. The Cooma had a

boisterous time. She reached Flat Top at

5. p.m. on Thursday. A cyclone was then

coming from the north-east, but veered to

the east-south-east. Owing to the thick,

squally weather the Cooma did not get

away from Flat Top till Friday afternoon.

Given the fact that the residents of Cannon Valley saw Yongala passing at dusk, which was 6 p.m. that time for Dent Island in the report is erroneous. See summary below.

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.

TROUBLE WITH COAL LUMPERS.

The Register (Adelaide) Saturday 15 May, 1909.

TROUBLE WITH COAL

LUMPERS.

TEMPORARY SETTLEMENT.

A temporary strike, which if persisted 

might have led to serious consequences,

occurred at Port Adelaide on Friday after

noon in connection with the Adelaide

Steamship Company's steamer Yongala.

The trouble was centred around two gangs

of coal lumpers who were engaged in coaling 

the vessel at Commercial Wharf. It had its 

origin in the refusal of the same gang to 

coal the steamer Grantala on Wednesday 

night. The men were ordered down to 

begin work at 9 p.m. that night. It rained 

heavily, and continued until some time 

after midinight, although the weather 

cleared somewhat at that hour. The men

declined to turn to at 9. o'clock on account

of the rain, and at midnight they left the

wharf altogether, but resumed the coaling 

of the vessel at 6 o'clock on Thursday

morning, and worked to within a short time

of the sailing of the Grantala on Thursday

afternoon. Even then, however, the

steamer had to leave short of the coal supply 

it was intended to have taken on board,

and the balance would, have to have been

shipped in Melbourne. Under clause 7

of the agreement between the Steamship

Owners' Association and the Working

Men's Association, any man ordered to a

vessel under the overtime clause, and not

employed, is entitled to receive 2/ per hour.

The Adelaide Steamship Company, how

ever, contended that as the men declined

to turn to when requested to do so, they

were not entitled to any payment for the

three hours in which they were waiting

about. It is admitted that it was raining, 

but the lumpers employed at the Grantala 

in discharging timber and loading general 

cargo worked all through it, and so

did those on the Melbourne Steamship

Company's steamer Monaro.

The decision of the company not to pay

for the three hours on Wednesday night

was not made known to the men until 

Friday afternoon, when the weekly earnings

were distributed. The same two gangs,

consisting of 21 men, were then coaling the

Yongala, which is to leave for Western

Australia this afternoon. When their demands 

for 6/ per man were not forthcoming they 

declined to continue their work at the Yongala, 

and left the lighter from which the coal was 

being transhipped at 4 p.m. They had begun 

in the morning at 9 o'clock, and two hours' 

work would have finished the bunkering. 

The vigilant officer of the Working Men's 

Association was sent for. He met the 

discontents, and when the position was 

explained to him he strongly advised them 

to turn to again, but they refused unless 

the company would undertake to pay 

them the 6/ to which, they argued, they 

were entitled for the three hours during

which they did no work on Wedhesday night. 

Then Capt. Dingle (marine superintendent to the company),

acting on the advice of the secretary (Mr. P. D. Haggart),

informed the men that he (Mr. Haggart) would be 

prepared to meet and discuss the question with 

the executive of the Working Men's Association,

provided they resumed the coaling of the

Yongala. This, however, they still declined to do. 

Later on the vigilant; officer of the association 

brought the Chairman (Mr. Pallutto) to the scene, 

and he was successful in persuading them to resume

work this morning and finish the coaling.

The Chairman told them they had done

wrong in knocking off without first consulting 

the executive of the association.

Having thus cleared the way for the mutual 

discussion of the point at issue, it is

possible an amicable settlement of the 

difficulty will be arrived at. It is generally

recognised that the agreement under which

the wharf labourers at Port Adelaide are

employed is exceedingly liberal, and it is

felt that any steps taken by the men to

jeopardise it will only react upon themselves. 

As far as the Adelaide Steamship Company 

is concerned, any trouble of a similar character 

might result in the vessels of the fleet being 

coaled in the other States instead of at Port Adelaide, 

with consequent loss of employment to a large

number of men.

The unionization of workers was starting to have a very real impact on the day to day function of ASC steamers. It is interesting to note that this 'trouble' took place at Port Adelaide, the ASC's home base. If you recall there was similar discontent with ASC steamers having to hove to at the semaphore before entering port. One wonders what the 'between the lines' picture was at the time?

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THOROUGH OVERHAUL.

Cairns Morning Post, Wednesday 29 April, 1908.

NOTES AND NEWS

OVERHAUL TO STEAMER.

On returning to Sydney the Adelaide 

Company's steamer Yongala,

will go into dock for a thorough

overhaul and survey, lasting three

weeks. Her running will be taken

up by the Buninyong.

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Five years to the day from launch. 

The Adelaide Steamship Company dutifully carried out important maintenance on their vessels and the Buninyong, Howard Smith Line, filled Yongala's shoes. This illustrates the fact that the major Interstate coastal shipping lines, consolidated into a 'combine', complimented each others' services, rather than competing. Although Buninyong was 25 years old, she was by no means beyond her prime and capabilities. Not as fast as Yongala, she could make 12 knots. 

The Buninyong:

launched      1883       by Caird, Purdie and Co - Barrow-In-Furness

gross tons     2070

length            280 ft.

beam             38 ft.

draught         11.48 ft.

depth             20 ft.

"They (and Gabo) were also the most luxurious vessels yet to join the trade, with accommodation for about 200 passengers, though only a limited number were in cabins. The majority of passengers were carried in segregated saloons, and when required extra sofa beds could be put up at night in the dining saloon, which was one of the main features of these two ships."

(courtesy: 'Coast to Coast’ by Peter Plowman)

The Sydney Morning Herald, Wednesday 13 June, 1883.

THE BUNINYONG.

The latest addition to the already numerous fleet, of steamers

owned by Messrs. Howard Smith and sons is the Buninyong,

which arrived at Melbourne on Sunday last. The following

description of the vessel, and of her voyage cut is taken from the

Age of Monday :- The Buninyong was built at Barrow-in-Furness, 

and launched on the 25th of last January. The hull is

entirely of steel, with a double bottom and seven watertight 

bulk-heads, the bottom being capable of holding 600 tons of water

ballast. Her dimensions are - length between perpendiculars,

280 feet; beam, 38 feet; and depth of hold, 20 feet, which gives

the net tonnage as, 1289; and the gross 2070 tons. She is, however,

able, to carry 3000 tons, and on leaving Liverpool she had 2800

tons of coal on board, on a mean draft of 18 feet 3 inches. On deck

she has no less than five steam winches, five derricks and ten

steam whips, which, added to the hatches being very large, will

enable her to discharge and take in cargo with the greatest

despatch. The windlass is one of Harfield and Co's patent, and

the steam steering gear is by Muir and Caldwell - acknowledged

to be the best of all. The engines are by Messrs. James Jack and

Co., of Liverpool, and are of the most approved type. They are

of the compound surface condensing principle, the high pressure

cylinder being 36 inches, and the low pressure 70 inches, with a

four feet stroke, the horse power being 300 nominal and 1200 

indicated. The boilers are four in number and built of steel,

carrying a pressure of 95lb, and it is anticipated that she will

prove herself a 12-knot boat, no trial as yet having been had of

her steaming qualities, the entire passage having been made at

a trifle over half speed, special instructions to such

effect having been issued to Captain Stanford prior to leaving.

On deck she has a very long poop and a topgallant forecastle. In

the former is the accommodation for saloon passengers, and it is

approached from a large deckhouse by a doorway from either

side, and a spacious staircase balustraded off by a doorway from either

banisters. In this house or companion, which is lighted by a

skylight running the whole length of it, are stained glass windows, 

and all round are also windows stained and decorated. On

the forward portion of the house are two apartments of about 10

feet by 12 feet, beautifully furnished. The one on the starboard 

side is specially set apart for a ladies' retiring room, and contains 

one of Broadwood's pianos, while the one on the port is devoted 

to the gentlemen as a smoking or card room. 

The Buninyong was opulently furnished and contributed to the cache of the Interstate coastal service, enduring for 40 years, ultimately scuttled in the Ship's Graveyard (1926).

A NEW SHIPPING AGREEMENT.

The West Australian, Friday 21 May, 1909.

A NEW SHIPPING AGREEMENT.

REGULATION OF HOURS AND

WAGES.

Melbourne, May 20.

A new agreement regulating wages

and hours of work has been entered into

between the Coastal Steamship Association 

of New South Wales and the Federated 

Seamen's Union of Australia. The provisions 

are closely modelled on those of the 

inter-State agreement and New

South Wales, which had previously stood

out, is therefore brought into line with the

other States of the Commonwealth.

The 'circle' of shipowners were finding themselves confronted by the steady march towards the rights of workers. 

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