A DANGEROUS COAST.

The Sydney Morning Herald, Wednesday, 29 March, 1911.

YONGALA WRECKAGE

WASHED UP ON THE

COAST.

CARGO FROM LOWER HOLD.

NO TRACE OF PASSENGERS

OR CREW.

ALL HOPE ABANDONED.

TOTAL OF 141 SOULS ON

BOARD.

... wreckage washed ashore at Cape Bowling 

Green, a notoriously treacherous spot, and 

elsewhere, is ominous, and little hope remains.

The Yongala had on board 141 souls all told

— a crew of 73 and 68 passengers in all classes

It is feared that all have been lost.

According to the wreck report, there were 48 passengers and 72 crew = 120. How could such a discrepancy arise? In fact other sources quote a total complement of 122. 

See: 

http://ahoy.tk-jk.net/macslog/Themysteriousdisappearanc.html 

for passenger and crew names.

IN THE TEETH OF THE GALE.

Cape Bowling Green, where what is believed to be portion of the Yongala's cargo 

came ashore yesterday, is an extremely dangerous portion of the coastline. Shoal 

waters extend for a considerable distance eastward, the banks in the vicinity are 

constantly shifting, and the tidal streams set strongly and irregularly over them. 

The lighthouse stands 70 feet above high water, and shows a light visible 44 miles. 

Great caution is necessary when navigating in this neighbourhood. So much water 

is thrown over the Barrier Reef and through the Barrier openings by the heavy sea 

that the currents in the inner route become very erratic at such times.

These conditions might explain why a mariner in a previous post suggested that Captain Knight should have hauled north-north-east after clearing the islands, perhaps to avoid the 'shoal waters extending for a considerable distance eastward''. The 'erratic currents' would certainly have contributed to deteriorating circumstances within a tropical cyclone. It must have been terrifying last minutes. 

On Monday, as on Sunday, excited crowds

watched the notice-boards at the G.P.O. in

Brisbane, and with every passing hour their

anxiety increased. Many were waiting for

relatives and friends. But no news came

until yesterday. With the finding of the

wreckage the watchers gave up hope.

WRECKAGE IDENTIFIED.

The Queensland manager for the Adelaide

S.S. Company, Mr. E. B. Wareham, stated

that the bags of bran and pollard had been

identified as part of the Yongala's cargo, which

had been shipped at Brisbane. The bags had

been placed in No. 3 lower hold, a secure 

part of the vessel, and the fact that they had 

been washed ashore caused him to entertain 

the gravest fears regarding the vessel.

This suggested that the hull had been ripped open or the main hatch had breached inundating the vessel with tons of water which displaced the cargo.

Cape Bowling Green is 40 miles south of

Townsville. A message from Townsville 

received yesterday stated that wreckage was

floating about Cleveland Bay, and that a 

number of oil drums, coal baskets, timber, 

etc., had been seen.

Last night a search boat reported on returning 

to Townsville that a quantity of wreckage had 

been found in the vicinity of Keppel Reef, 

including two cases of kerosene, two

bathroom gratings, portion of a cabin 

trunk, two lifebuoys bearing no marks, 

and two pillows marked "A. S. Coy."

Kerosene was stowed on Yongala's deck. If ever there was movable cargo it was this! 

A TERRIFIC STORM.

The weather along the Queensland coast 

towards the end of last week was exceedingly

bad. It has been very severe, in fact, for the

past fortnight.

Captain Milson, of the steamer Guthrie,

which arrived in Sydney last Wednesday from

the north, reported having met the full force

of the cyclone which passed over Northern

Queensland, wrecking the township of Port

Douglas, and doing great damage also at 

Mossman and other places.

The force of the gale, he said, was terrific,

and his vessel was in danger all the time

the gale lasted. The indications of the storm

were seen before his vessel reached 

Rockhampton, and on the afternoon of the 

16th inst. he brought the ship to anchor 

inside Low Woody Island. Two anchors 

were lowered with 120 fathoms of chain on 

each. During the afternoon the wind increased 

in violence, and the sea rose rapidly until it 

was impossible to move about the decks. 

Two lifeboats were blown or washed from 

their tackle, all movable obstacles were 

washed overboard, the tarpaulins were 

stripped from the hatches, and the top of 

the bridge roof was blown away. A change in 

the wind caused a most dangerous cross sea, 

which continually swept the ship fore and aft, 

and several times she was almost thrown on 

her beam ends.

A vessel in light trim, Captain Milson said,

would have a poor chance in such a gale.

Yongala was in light trim and the description of a dangerous cross sea throwing the vulnerable steamer onto her 'beam ends' ---> rolling over, is most sobering.

The steamers Cooma, Taiyuan, and Wodonga, 

appear to have experienced the same weather 

as the Yongala, but reached their destination safely.

Captain Mackay, of Brisbane, speaks of the

storm as of quite exceptional violence, and

points to the fact that the Taiyuan had two

of her boats blown away while sheltering

north of Dent Island.

Note that most of these vessels took shelter and dropped anchor. Why did Captain Knight not do this?

"DID NOT PASS."

The steamer Grantala, a sister ship to the

Yongala, arrived at Brisbane on Monday, after

a trying trip from Cairns, during which she

had to run into shelter from the hurricane.

It was usual for these two boats to pass each

other, in the night between Townsville and

Bowen. They should have passed on Thursday 

night — the night of the storm — but Captain

Sim, of the Grantala, saw nothing of the other

vessel's lights. He was not surprised at this,

in view of the dirtiness of the weather, which

he described as the worst he had experienced

during the two years he had been in charge

of the Grantala.

Captain Sim also made the sensible decision to take shelter in Bowling Green Bay. It was unlikely that he would have seen Yongala's lights under these circumstances. The wreck site is 11 miles from the Cape Bowling Green Light and possibly as much as 17 miles from the position of the Grantala.

A DANGEROUS COAST.

Cape Bowling Green, where part of the cargo

has come ashore, marks a very dangerous

part of the coast. The light is visible 14 miles

out at sea. Mariners are warned to exercise

great caution when navigating the waters 

of this neighbourhood.

Not all mariners exercised great caution on the night of 23 March, but there again perhaps Captain was committed to a course and destiny.

In January, 1890, a very heavy easterly and

south-east gale, with torrents of rain, was

experienced by H.M.S. Dart in the vicinity of

Cape Bowling Green. The barometer fell to

29.68. So much water is thrown over the

Barrier Reef and through the Barrier 

openings after a heavy sea that the currents 

in the inner route become very erratic at such

times. The Dart was set 33 miles north 60

degrees west in 24 hours, and subsequently 

10 miles north 50 degrees east in 12 hours.

In 1875 the Gothenberg was totally wrecked

on one of the reefs in the vicinity of Cape

Bowling Green, and the steamer Quetta was

wrecked north of that point some 21 years ago.

The point has been thoroughly made that the section of coast in question was challenging at the best of times and treacherous in a cyclone. The rapidly dropping barometer on board Yongala should have been sufficient warning of conditions to be expected. In light trim one does wonder what was going on in the minds of master and officers....