THREE DAYS OVERDUE.

The Brisbane Courier, Monday 27 March, 1911.

THREE DAYS OVERDUE.

IS IT A MARINE DISASTER?

FINE STEAMER YONGALA MISSING,

TWO STEAMERS IN SEARCH.

AN UNSUCCESSFUL CRUISE.

ANXIETY IN BRISBANE

When it became known in Brisbane on

Saturday morning that the Adelaide

Steamship Company's fine steamer, Yongala,

which left Brisbane on Tuesday afternoon

for Cairns, had not arrived at Townsville,

where she was due on Friday, naturally

no little anxiety was aroused. This

became considerably more pronounced 

as the day wore on without tidings of the 

steamer, especially in view of the cyclonic 

weather conditions which have been 

prevailing in the North during the past few 

days. A wire received by the Deputy 

Postmaster-General from Townsville during 

the morning, announcing that the Yongala 

was overdue, stated that the Cooma which 

arrived at Townsville on Saturday morning 

reported having seen nothing of the missing 

vessel, which had left Flat-top at 1.40 p.m. on 

Thursday. This was serious news indeed, 

but even more serious was to follow.

Early yesterday afternoon the Bowen

authorities wired us follows—'At 7.30

a.m. a Howard Smith and another large

steamer a long way out, passed South

from pilot station here, no other vessels

sighted today, pilot stations are keeping

a sharp look out. Some three hours

later a further telegram came from the

same source which read as follows—

'Flat-top advises that master of Cooma

reports Dent Island signalled that Yongala

passed North at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Townsville advises that Cape Bowling Green 

reports "No sign of Yongala."

Suggesting that the Yongala had foundered somwhere between Dent Island and Cape Bowling Green.

Subsequently Bowen wired that the

commander of the Wodonga reported 

having seen nothing of the Yongala.

This was most disconcerting, since it

showed that steamers going over the

Yongala's course, either way, had seen nothing

of her, and apparently she had been last

sighted at Dent Island, that is to say,

in Whitsunday Passage. All day yesterday 

there was a continuous flow of anxious 

inquirers at this office and at the G.P.O. 

shipping board, particularly in the evening, 

and, as by no means reassuring telegrams 

were posted up, the anxiety increased tenfold. 

Many hopeful theories were put forward, but, 

nevertheless, there was a general feeling that 

something untoward had happened.

"I don't like the look of it at all," said

Mr. E. B. Wareham, the manager of the

company, last night, in the course of

conversation. He explained that the 

Company had on Saturday despatched 

two of its steamers, the Tarcoola and 

the Ouraka, from Townsville in search 

of the missing vessel. These vessels, 

each of which was over 4000 tons capacity, 

were ordered to make a thorough search, 

one inside the Passage, and the other 

outside. Last night he (Mr. Wareham) 

received a telegram advísing that the 

Tarcoola had arrived at Flat-top at 7 p.m., 

and had reported that she had examined 

the inside route of Whitsunday Passage, 

whilst the Ouraka went over the outside route, 

along the Barrier Reef. Both vessels had met at

Dent Island in the afternoon, having seen

nothing of the Yongala. There they were

informed by the lighthouse-keeper that the

Yongala had passed at 6.35 p.m. on 

Thursday. "That is evidence," said Mr. 

Wareham, ''that the master of the Yongala 

adhered to his usual practice by going 

through Whitsunday Passage (instead of 

going outside, as is frequently done by 

vessels proceeding to Townsville direct.) 

Mr. Wareham further stated  that the Ouraka 

had left Dent Island again at 4 o'clock on 

Sunday afternoon to carefully examine 

the inside route through Whitsunday Passage.

The Tarcoola was to leave Mackay during

the night to search all the bays and islands

in the Passage. Both vessels would report 

to the lighthouse-keeper at Bowen on

Monday morning.

"Yes, it looks very bad," added Mr.

Wareham, "seeing that so many vessels

have gone over the same course without

sighting her. It seems hardly credible to

me that a vessel could be lost in such

a narrow passage, and nothing seen or

heard of her. Still, we entertain the hope

that the Yongala, although she has never

before had any accident, has merely met

with some mishap to her machinery, or

something of that sort, and may be sheltering 

under one of the islands in Whitsunday

Passage."

The Yongala is a steel screw steamer

of 3604 tons register, and is one of the

largest ships in the coastal trade. She

was built in 1903 by the firm of Armstrong, 

Whitworth, and Co., Ltd., Newcastle. 

Her dimensions are :— Length, 350ft.; 

breadth, 43ft.; depth, 27ft. She

was on a voyage from Melbourne to

Cairns, having left Brisbane, as before

stated, on Tuesday afternoon. She was

due to arrive at Townsville at daylight

on Friday morning, and to continue her

voyage to Cairns on Saturday afternoon.

Captain W. Knight is in command, and

the crew numbers 70. The passenger list

on leaving Brisbane was as follows -

Mesdames Reath, Davids, Rooney, Elsdale, 

M. A. Woodward, Murray and three children, 

W. Lin, Marbey, Misses Rooney, Murray, 

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

Messrs. Reath, Rooney, A. S. Dette, T. Parton, 

R. Stack, Elsdale, F. Voney, J. Fulton, F. C. Must, 

S. Mainwaring, W. Lin, E. Schneider, F. Buckenridge, 

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

R. Ronnarder, and 31 in the second saloon.

Note that the spelling for Chneider had been adjusted to the correct E Schneider.

The steamer Ouraka was to leave

Townsville on Saturday for Brisbane with

a quantity of log timber, whilst the Tarcoola 

was bound for Cairns with a cargo

of coal and coke from Sydney, Newcastle,

and Brisbane.

The Yongala had disappeared without a trace. As in the case of the Waratah, a storm of severe intensity appeared to be the likely cause of the disaster. Mr Wareham was pessimistic but realistic rather than dishing out dollops of false hope. The Lunds, owners of the Waratah, on the other hand persisted with the notion that their flagship had suffered mechanical failure and was adrift. In both cases numerous search vessels failed to find either ship afloat. 

Judging by the images below it appears that the shorter route through the islands making up the Whitsunday Passage presented a potential hazard to shipping during cyclonic events.  

Was Captain Knight a risk-taker?