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
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...
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| SS Koombana |
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| SS Yongala |
Great photos, Andrew!
ReplyDeleteThank you Mole. All credit goes to Australian Maritime Museum.
ReplyDelete