PROVING THE CASE FOR THE CHRONOMETER.

 The following extract refers to the only hard, physical evidence which exists from the disaster:

https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?55361

ANDREW VIDUKA: We could prove that the chronometer was wound up and we could prove the chronometer flooded at 15 metres because we studied it and we were able to show that water went in and stopped the mechanism. 

So we looked at the time again and we said 'OK, so, why is it 12:45? British mean time, set to that - Greenwich mean time - 10 hours difference between Greenwich mean time and the Queensland time under the Queensland Standard Time Act. 

MURRAY CORNISH: So what time does that mean that the wreck went down?

ANDREW VIDUKA: The best hypothesis we can come up with is the vessel was lost in the night, at the height of the cyclone, at a quarter to twelve, on 23rd March. 

It is clear from the above interview that the chronometer was unlikely to have flooded and stopped while Yongala was afloat - even while being battered by a cyclone.

But do the sighting times and Yongala's speed match?

Mr. Wareham, Adelaide Steamship Company:

she was a 'fast ship, her steaming capacity being 

from 16 to 17 knots'.

The Register (Adelaide) 29 March, 1911.

SIGHTED BY THE COOMA.

The master, asked if he had seen any

thing of the Yongala, replied that he 

overtook her on the voyage up the coast, 

leaving her up as far as Lady Elliots. The

Yongala at the time was well in hand, and

was running under easy steam, as it was

not necessary for her to arrive at Mackay

until daylight. At Dent Island Capt. Smith

hailed the station, and enquired which side

of the passage the Yongala was. The

answer was that the Yongala went through

at five o'clock on Thursday night.

Returning to this revealing extract there are interesting points to be made:

The Yongala was overtaken by the Cooma in the vicinity of Lady Elliots. This simple fact confirms that Captain Knight was not a speed merchant. If the situation allowed, he was quite happy to proceed 'under easy steam'. The same simple fact must apply to when Yongala departed Flat-Top. Captain Knight need only have arrived at Townsville by morning, a distance of 208 miles. If he departed at 1.40 pm, 23 March, and made an easy 12 knots, Yongala would have arrived at Townsville roughly 6.45 am, 24 March. He did not need to steam faster than this. 

However, we know that Yongala foundered at approximately 11.45 pm (hard chronometer evidence!!), 23 March at a position 160.5 n miles from Flat-Top. This means that Yongala averaged 16 knots. 16 knots was close to Yongala's top speed and with a gale on her stern, clearly indicates that Captain Knight was pushing his vessel to escape what he thought was a severe southeast storm system coming up the coast.

'At Dent Island Capt. Smith hailed the station and enquired which side of the passage the Yongala was'. The answer was that the 'Yongala went through at five o'clock on Thursday night'. There were some press reports which stuck to 6 p.m. adding that this was the time Yongala 'usually' passed Dent Island. But this was not a 'usual time' or circumstances. And of course the time quoted at the Inquiry was 6.35 p.m.. The following analysis puts this confusion into perspective:

The distance between Mackay and Dent Island is roughly 55 nautical miles. If Yongala departed Mackay at 1.40 pm and was sighted from the Dent Island Light at 6.35 pm, we can calculate that she averaged 11.2 knots, which was well below average with the wind behind her and an element of urgency, given the falling barometer. 

Seems highly unlikely!!

If we take the sometimes press reported time of 6.00 p.m., Dent Island, we get an average speed of 12.7 knots. Again this was sub optimal for a steamer with Yongala's 17 knot potential. However it does correlate with 'easy steam' if there had been no urgency.

If, we take 5.00 p.m., Dent Island, we get 16.5 knots which makes more sense in the context of Yongala's potential, the urgency of an impending storm and the average speed of 16 knots quoted above. 

Given that Yongala's chronometer indicated 11.45 p.m., time of the sinking, an interesting scenario emerges: 

The distance from Dent Island to the site of the wreck is 105.5 miles via Grassy Island (inner, inside passage). We have three options again:

- Dent Island 6.00 p.m. to 11.45 p.m. = 5.75 hours, giving an average of 18.34 knots which is pushing it even with a favourable 2 knot current.

- Dent Island 6.35 p.m. to 11.45 p.m. = 5.17 hours, giving us an average of 20.4 knots, which is unrealistic.

- Dent Island 5.00 p.m. to 11.45 p.m. = 6.75 hours, giving us an average of 15.6 knots which is entirely plausible, correlating with the average above of 16 knots. Furthermore, it supports a sudden, catastrophic event given that the steamer was on course.

 Why the erroneous times ?? 

I believe it was to discredit the collective witness account by residents of Cannon Valley who confirmed that Yongala passed en-route along the inner, most dangerous part of the INSIDE PASSAGE at night; passing between Armit and Gumbrell Islands - a narrow passage not lit by a lighthouse. 

Yongala would have been clearly visible from Cannon Valley when she was 16 n miles from Dent Island at about 6 pm - 16 knots (the calculated average).

6 p.m. is precisely dusk ---> sunset, Queensland, 23 March which neatly corresponds with the report by Cannon Valley Beach residents that they saw Yongala passing 'just as darkness was setting in and the night promising to be a very stormy one'. 

Note, no storm as yet, just the threat of one. 

The Inquiry was not only a whitewash it was a cover-up, falsely steering Yongala along the outside passage, avoiding the more risky inner, inside passage and allegations of risk-taking.

Parting shot:

'Speaking of the Yongala disaster, Captain 

Craig said : " No matter how good your 

judgment is, you can be deceived by

the currents. On the Thursday afternoon 

after leaving Cape Tribulation the Yawata 

Maru was steaming at 12 knots, but she 

was travelling at the rate of 15 knots, 

having the assistance of a southerly 

three-knot current. Before reaching

Palm Island the ship was steaming at 

least 13 knots,  but she was only making 

10 1/2 knots, showing that  there was at 

least a two-knot current setting to the 

northward."

A favourable 2 knot current would have ensured Yongala could maintain a 16 knot average.

courtesy Google Earth

courtesy Google Earth

courtesy Google Earth and Trove

HOPELESS ANGUISH.

Cairns Post, 3 April, 1911.

False Alarm.

(To the Editor.)

Sir,-Is it not a scandalous shame

that thoughtless persons should 

circulate unfounded rumours like that

which was to be heard throughout the

town to-day alleging the wreck of

the Yongala had been located, and

adding what were given as details

of the position, etc.?

This rumour, as it was proved,

was entirely without foundation.

But not a few grief-stricken people

in Cairns, who. had dear ones on

board the steamer were, on first 

hearing the story, comforted not a 

little thinking there would be a 

chance of reclaiming a poor body 

from the water and giving it the last 

rites of Christian burial on land. But

who can describe their feelings when

they found there was no truth in

the statement. The anguish they

are suffering is quite terrible enough

without it being added to in this

manner. One gentleman, whose

daughter was on board the ill-fated

steamer, came to me expectantly,

asking if there was any truth in

the story. When I told him there

was none at all, the hopeless anguish 

in his eyes was heartrending

to see. For pity's sake, Sir, let

these idle, cruel rumours be stopped.

Will not the persons who are given

to this kind of thing think of the

pain and suffering they cause by

their heartlessness or 

thoughtlessness,

-Yours, etc..

JOHN PEEL."

April 2, 1911. P

'IS A DISGRACE TO A PEOPLE WITH ANY PRETENCE OF CIVILISATION.'

Truth, Brisbane, 2 April, 1911.

THE LOST YONGALA

MODERN METHODS WANTED.

In last Sunday's issue, "Truth" commented 

crisply on the supposition— which is now

alas! a dread certainty— that the Adelaide 

Shipping Company's passenger steamer 

Yongala had foundered with all hands, with 

the cheery optimism of the People's Paper,

it was hoped that all was well, even in

the face of disturbing evidence, and reference 

was made to the desirability of installing a 

system of wireless telegraphy, to operate between 

coastal steamers and receiving stations on the

mainland. 'During the week, the "Daily Mail"— 

a paper which has recently amended its ways 

in one or two of those apparently trivial details 

which never escape our notice — has calmly 

collared the idea previously enunciated by

"Truth," and has put up a feeble squeak on 

the question of the installation of such a wireless 

system as was demanded by the People's Paper. 

Considering the advertising risks involved, 

and the terror which the great Firms and Combines 

who are included in the Chamber of Commerce 

exercise over the Queen-street dailies, this recognition 

of a crying necessity— even though it be stolen from 

"Truth"— may be counted for righteousness to a 

journal which never keens the recording angel, 

working overtime in that regard.

Mere suggestion is, however, not nearly strong 

enough, and "Truth" demands, in all seriousness, 

that both State and Federal authorities take up a

sinfully-neglected task and remove the possibility

as far as the future is concerned, of any more fearful 

happenings such as have attended the loss of the 

Yongala. Here was a ship, of modern, design, 

powerfully engined, and fit to sail any sea of the 

world, hopelessly lost on one of the most frequented 

of shipping highways, and what is infinitely worse,

not only lost, but unnoticed for three or four days. 

No human provision can ensure the safety even of 

such ships as the Yongala, but that such a craft, with 

her freight of valuable cargo, and far more precious 

human lives, should vanish into the unknowable while 

the dwellers on the fairly well-populated coast in the 

vicinity of her disappearance were in utter ignorance of 

her fate, is an unspeakable thing. 

It is an atrocity beside which ordinary methods of massacre 

sink into insignificance, and its iniquity is increased a 

hundredfold when we recall the fact that a miserable two 

or three hundred pounds would have installed a system of 

wireless telegraphy between the Yongala and a mainland 

base. The apparatus required for such short distances as 

would be needed in the case of the coastal steamers 

is trifling, and the horrible thoughtless parsimony 

of the Government, and the greedy, disgraceful voracity 

of the bloated shipping companies are responsible for much, 

perhaps all, of the tragedy which has shaken Queensland 

from one end to the other. How much they have been aided 

by the fawning, lickspittle daily press in maintaining their 

attitude of "don't care a damn" need not  be enlarged on here, 

since it is scandalously evident to anyone.

Of course, Premier Denham will try, characteristically, to 

shuffle out of the soup, by throwing all blame on the 

Commonwealth's convenient shoulders. The Federal 

Government control lighthouse and such shipping matters 

generally as come within the scope of the authorities. 

Nevertheless, it is upon the State that the stigma of the 

circumstances attending on the loss of the Yongala must 

rest. For many years the State of Queensland controlled the 

lighting and marking of what is in all probability the most 

dangerous and intricate stretch of coastal navigation in the 

world. The methods adopted in those dark days were 

left as a dangerous legacy to the Commonwealth, 

to whose discredit lies the fact that they have not been 

improved out of existence.

Matters are not one whit improved since the Quetta foundered 

twenty years ago. As far as, provision for saving life, or for 

alleviating disaster goes, the coast line of Queensland in particular, 

and of Australia generally,  'is a disgrace to a people with any 

pretence of civilisation.'

Ten days ago— it is forgotten now in this new and more tragic 

wonder— the daily press was conducting an idiotic campaign 

of' unplaced sympathy, because an asinine Papuan official had 

lost himself. A Sydney inventor was rushed off by steamer to 

Papua, equipped with several sets of exceedingly expensive 

long-distance "wireless" apparatus. ' 'Before this had been fixed 

up, the lost explorer was brought in by some natives, who, 

apparently, did not think him worth eating. If half the money 

wasted in the silly preparations for getting wireless news of 

Staniforth Smith had been expended on two or three receiving 

stations on the dangerous northern coast, and if Federal, or State 

authority had compelled a cheap wireless installation on the boats 

which help the companies to fatten on Queensland money, we 

should have known exactly how the Yongala met disaster, and 

the tugs and other craft who are, a week after the tragedy, 

picking up useless wreckage might have been able to arrive 

on the scene of the wreck in time to save some one of those 

120 souls who have gone

"To the weed's unrest;

To the shark and the shearing gull."

State or Commonwealth, whoever is to blame, have but one 

duty plain before them. The fat and overfed shipping companies 

have battened unchecked for years on the great coastal trade of 

Australia, and no section of that trade has been more profitable 

than that which lies up and down the Queensland coast. The 

profits of the great Combine are notorious, and out of all 

proportion to the comforts and facilities given by the companies 

to the people who, willy-nilly, have to submit to their exorbitant

rates and their very inferior provision for travellers.It is absolutely 

imperative that, these people should be compelled to spend a 

fraction of their enormous gains in partially insuring the safety of 

their clients by installing wireless telegraphy. In this week's daily 

press, there are three or four cables announcing the rescue of 

passengers from wrecked craft, through the medium of wireless 

telegraphy. As "Truth", has said, the installation for short-distance 

work costs but a trifle. It is up to the great companies to make

a move. 

If they are not shamed into doing so, they should be kicked into it.

Marconi courtesy Daily Beast.

CAPTAIN CRAIG.

The Telegraph, Brisbane, 5 April, 1911.

Captain Craig, of the Q.G.S. Lucinda,

who for 35 years was an officer in the

A.U.S.N Company's service, and who was

with Captain Knight when the latter was

in command of the Glanworth, yesterday

afternoon pointed out to a representative

of this journal that it is not always possible 

to navigate a vessel in the desired

directions in a cyclone. Captain Craig

was associated with Captain Armstrong

on the Aramac, when that vessel was

driven on Bramble reef in the course of

a cyclone on the northern coast some

years ago, and on that occasion it was

found impossible, stated Captain Craig,

to follow the correct course. The Aramac

was caught in the centre of the cyclone,

and in spite of her own powerful

engines and every effort to save her,

she was driven aground. 

Yongala foundered within the steamer track, suggesting that the disaster occurred very suddenly, otherwise 'it would have been impossible to follow the correct course.'

Certainly there was not many miles behind the Yongala,

Cid Harbour, one of the safest havens on the Australian 

coast, but even if Captain Knight could have turned his ship

around with safety; there was the danger of striking an 

unknown danger in the attempt to enter it. On the other

hand, also, Captain Craig stated, as a rule a shipmaster 

has unbounded confidence in his vessel. Captain Armstrong

and his officers, for instance, did not doubt that the Aramac 

would be able to weather the cyclone above referred to,

even, though they passed through the centre of it, and but 

for her being blown on to the reef, no doubt she would have

come through the ordeal safely.

courtesy Google Earth.

How Did It Happen ?

Speaking from a 26 years' close

acquaintance with the Queensland coast,

Captain Craig is strongly of opinion

that the Yongala struck Nares rock.

Tracing the usual course of steamers

navigating those latitudes, Captain Craig

pointed out how Captain Knight, so

soon as he was clear of Whitsunday

Passage, would probably set a course to

pass Eshelby Island, after which he

would head the ship so as to pass Cape

Bowling Green some five miles off. With

the hurricane behind her, it is quite

likely that the steamer passed Eshelby

much sooner than Captain Knight estimated 

she would. Therefore the course set would 

take her on to that great dread of all navigators 

on that pact of the coast— Nares rock.

Launching the Boats.

'Striking such a danger as that mentioned, Captain 

Craig has no doubt that but a few seconds, comparatively, 

elapsed before the noble ship, together with all on board, 

were engulfed in the raging waters. The only persons who 

are likely to be about were the captain, the officer on watch, 

and a couple of seamen. All the rest of the ship's company, 

together with the passengers, no doubt would be sheltering 

from the drenching spray, and also the heavy seas, which 

would break on board. The fact that no boats were launched 

confirms Captain Craig in his belief that the ship sank suddenly

and rapidly, even before her unfortunate passengers and crew 

had time to realise what had happened. Had she floated for

even a few minutes, he states, no doubt one or more boats 

would have been lowered, for even in the worst part of

the cyclone through which the Aramac passed it would 

have been possible to get the boats out, the vessel forming a

natural breakwater as she drifted away from the centre of the 

storm.

We know that Yongala was overwhelmed by the cyclone and did not strike Nares. However, this confirmation that 'no boats were launched', reflecting the general opinion, is further supported by the fact that not one body was ever discovered.

Finding of Cargo.

The finding of a small portion of the

ship's cargo, together with a mail

basket, puzzled Captain Craig for some

time, but eventually be came to the 

conclusion that when the vessel was 

discharging cargo at Flat-Top this cargo,

and possibly the mail basket also were

put on the lighter by mistake, but being

discovered at the last minute, was hauled

back on the ship, and in the hurry of

resuming the voyage was simply placed

under cover of a tarpaulin on deck as

he has seen it done scores of. times.

An interesting theory. However, foundering within the cyclone was more than enough cause for cargo from hold 3 to be liberated.

This would account for the very small

quantity of cargo discovered so far.

There was not a great deal of light cargo to start off with. Heavier cargo remained within the lower holds.

Another Light Wanted.

That another light is badly needed on

that part of the coast is strongly urged

by every master mariner spoken to on the

subject. The only question for their

minds is just exactly where that light

should be placed. But the general consensus 

favours Gloucester Head.

Captain W. Hurford, master of the Howard 

Smith Company's well known coaster Bombala, 

who has a life long acquaintance with the 

Queensland coast, spoke very strongly on the 

subject of the lighting of that part of the coast, 

yesterday afternoon. He, however, made it

clear that in doing so he did not desire

in any way to reflect, upon the administration 

of the department controlling this

important matter. Queensland, he remarked, 

was a young State, and the Marine Department 

had done a good deal with the money at its disposal, 

but when it came to a question of human life versus

economy of expenditure he thought human

life should have first consideration. 

https://yongalarevisited.blogspot.com/2020/06/hot-potato.html

On that portion of the coast on which the

Yongala met her fate, Captain Hurford

pointed out, there is an unlighted stretch

of some 110 miles of dangerous coast.

That is to say vessels running past 

Bowen have no guiding light between

Dent Island and Cape Bowling Green.

The principal dangers strewn along this

darksome stretch are Holb'orne, Double

Cone, Eshelby, and Rattray Islands, and

Nares Rock; Captain Hurford is emphatically 

of opinion, apart from, the Yongala

disaster, that a first order light should

be placed on Gloucester Head. Had there

been a light on this prominence, Captain

Hurford states, it probably would have

averted the terrible disaster which has

overtaken the Yongala and all on board her.

And this is precisely what the authorities feared, and the repercussions thereof.

courtesy Google Earth.

An incidental Suggestion.

Speaking of the lighting of the coast

generally, Captain Hurford observed that

all who were well acquainted with it

must admit that a goodly number of

lights were needed on the coast, in addition 

to the one on Gloucester Head.

But as he had previously remarked, the

question of finance had to be considered,

he felt constrained, however, to mention

one place where he considered a light

was badly needed in south Queensland

waters, and that was off Sandy Cape.

courtesy Google Earth.

By means of a chart, he explained to

the pressman, the dangerous character

of the spit, which juts out from that

point, and on which the Aramac came to

grief some few years ago. It was a

miracle, however, that they had not had

20 Aramac disasters on that very danger.

In his opinion, the shoal water at the

end of the spit should be marked by

means of a lighthouse, such as the Pile

lighthouse, which could easily be established 

on one of the shoals at the end of the spit.

Ultimately a lighthouse was positioned on Fraser Island from which the spit juts out. 

However, it appears that Cape Gloucester never got the recommended lighthouse despite numerous masters' pleas for such.